This week we’re looking at a potentially misleading claim about the HPV vaccine, a tax cut claim from the PM, and if HS2 has cost £100 billion to date

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** HS2 has not cost £100 billion to date ([link removed])
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A post being shared on social media claims that HS2 has cost £100 billion, with each mile of track costing £600 million. But this isn’t true. In January MPs were told that the cost of the 140-mile line between London and Birmingham could be as much as £66.5 billion in 2023/24 prices.

This means that the cost would be more than £475 million per mile—but not £600 million per mile as the post incorrectly claims.

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** HPV vaccines are safe and effective ([link removed])
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A widely shared post on X (formerly Twitter) from a doctor called Tess Lawrie claims that “many children have suffered terrible health problems after HPV vaccination and others have died”. The post goes on to say: “Their lives may depend on the actions you take to inform yourself of the risks today.”

This is potentially seriously misleading. The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine has been proven safe and effective. To imply otherwise is wrong.

There are several different strains of HPV, which have been shown to raise the risk of certain cancers ([link removed]) in later life. Data so far shows a large reduction in the rate of these cancers ([link removed]) among people who received the HPV vaccine.
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** Prime Minister’s £900 tax cut claim is missing vital context ([link removed])
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In an interview with BBC Radio Newcastle on 2nd April the Prime Minister claimed that “an average person in work” would receive a tax cut of around £900, due to action by the government to reduce National Insurance contributions (NICs).

We have fact checked similar claims by government ministers before and found that they don’t paint the whole picture. Ongoing freezes to the threshold at which people begin paying NICs and income tax mean the savings for someone on the average salary are substantially smaller.

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MORE FACT CHECKS
Also this week...
* Unevidenced claim Labour leader called for ‘more houses’ for asylum seekers recirculates on Facebook ([link removed])
* Hoax posts about a lost necklace circulate on Facebook ([link removed])
* Viral photos do not show Yevgeny Prigozhin on a train this year ([link removed])

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