This week Full Fact has continued to fact check misinformation surrounding wildfires in Hawaii and investigating the average earning figures
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Dear Friend,
This weekend thousands of people will be taking part in the annual Notting Hill Carnival. A post widely circulated on Twitter (now X) has claimed that homeowners in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea are given £3,000 per household to leave for the weekend due to the “inconvenience” caused.
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There is no such payment. Elderly residents on the carnival route can apply to go on a free trip to Eastbourne for the weekend, run by the council and Age UK.
FACT CHECKS
** Mountain Dew drink doesn’t prove Maui fires were ‘planned’ ([link removed])
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Social media has seen an increase in the circulation of misinformation about wildfires in Maui. A recent example is a claim that the Mountain Dew ‘Maui Burst’ flavour drink points towards the use of directed energy weapons (DEWs) to deliberately start fires.
Full Fact have assessed this claim along with similar stories and found there’s no evidence the fires were started using directed energy weapons, or that Mountain Dew is connected to either the fires or weapons.
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** What do the latest wage growth figures actually show? ([link removed])
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There have been a number of contrasting claims on social media about the latest Office for National Statistics figures on average earnings.
Full Fact have checked some of these claims. They are not necessarily wrong, as they all refer to different measures, but each would benefit from additional context.
** Claim 1: UK wages have risen at the fastest rate since records began.
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Average weekly earnings figures show that nominal regular pay (pay excluding bonuses, not adjusted for inflation) increased by 7.8% in the three months April to June 2023. This is the highest growth rate since current records began in 2001.
** Claim 2: In real terms there has been a pay cut.
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When looking at pay adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index, regular pay and total pay growth fell by 0.6% and 0.2% respectively.
** Claim 3: Wages are rising in real terms.
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When looking at pay adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs, regular pay and total pay growth increased by 0.1% and 0.5% respectively.
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** Hotel costs for people seeking asylum lower than £7 million suggested by MP Lee Anderson ([link removed])
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The Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party Lee Anderson in a column in the Daily Express said he was angry at “Supposed ‘refugees’ who arrive on our shores looking for a handout”, referred to “economic chancers”, and claimed that “we’re already spending £7 million a day to put them up in hotels”.
The Home Office says that housing asylum seekers in hotels is costing £6 million a day. The £7 million figure appears to be based on a figure provided in October 2022 for the combined cost of hotels for asylum seekers, as well as bridging accommodation for Afghan citizens resettled by the UK government.
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Policy and Government Relations Manager
As Full Fact’s Policy and Government Relations Manager you’ll play a central part in our work to stop the harm caused by bad information, improve the standard of public debate and make sure people get the facts they deserve.
This is a full time, remote first role, with an office available in Central London and regular team meetings in the office.
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MORE FACT CHECKS
Also this week...
* ONS data shows lower death rates in people vaccinated against Covid-19 ([link removed])
* Viral image of Pope Francis addressing crowds is AI generated ([link removed])
* Only cash withdrawals using a credit card, not a debit card, impact on a credit score ([link removed])
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