Update from last week: Full Fact has also now secured a correction from the Daily Mirror about a front-page story which incorrectly claimed that the average NHS worker does 11 hours overtime per week.

FACT CHECK

Full Fact calls on the Prime Minister to correct the record on poverty

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) concluded that the Prime Minister has made several inaccurate claims on the government’s record on poverty in recent months, according to news reports.

They were:

• “There are 400,000 fewer children in poverty than there were in 2010.” (The Andrew Marr Show, BBC, 1 December 2019)
• “Absolute poverty and relative poverty have both declined under this government”. (PMQs, 17 June 2020)
• "There are hundreds of thousands, I think 400,000, fewer families living in poverty now than there were in 2010" (PMQs, 17 June 2020)
• “There are 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty and 500,000 fewer children falling below thresholds of low income and material deprivation.” (PMQs, 24 June 2020)

We urge the Prime Minister to ensure that the parliamentary record (Hansard) is corrected.

Full Fact recognises that the number of ways of measuring poverty means it’s all too easy for opponents to choose the numbers that best suit their argument. 

We welcome the OSR’s commitment to a systemic review of the coherence of poverty statistics this autumn, and we will be submitting the evidence from our fact checks to show the level of confusion and the need for change.

FACT CHECK

Dominic Raab was wrong to say that employees forced to quarantine can’t be penalised

On Saturday, the government announced that holidaymakers in Spain would be required by law to quarantine for 14 days after returning to the UK.

During an interview on Sky’s Sophy Ridge the following day, foreign secretary Dominic Raab repeatedly said that people cannot be “penalised” by their employer for doing so. 

This is not correct. Employers may take action against workers, if they choose, including deducting pay, treating their self-isolation as unauthorised absence or even beginning disciplinary proceedings. 

The Department for Transport said the government is “urging employers to be understanding of those returning from Spain who now will need to self-isolate”. However, there is no requirement for employers to do this.

Downing Street later told Full Fact that employees who need urgent support because of quarantine may be entitled to Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit, instead of sick pay.

FACT CHECK

Yes, actually there was resistance to the Blitz safety measures

US actor Jason Alexander, of Seinfeld fame, claimed that no Londoners objected to blackout measures during the Blitz, as an analogous argument in favour of face masks.

The central claim is that there wasn’t any objection from Londoners to the preventative methods brought in during the Blitz, but this isn’t true. There are numerous examples of people complaining, objecting to, and even circumventing safety guidance during the Blitz. 

Historian Robert Mackay says that early on in the war, the public felt blackout measures were the most inconvenient aspect of the war. The Centre for War, State, and Society at the University of Exeter notes that a significant cause of death early on in the Blitz was due to a failure to find shelter, with bodies pulled from the rubble indicating that casualties had been sleeping in upstairs rooms. 

Assault, looting and pickpocketing occurred during the darkness. Generally, since the outbreak of Covid-19, historians have disputed the comparisons between the Blitz and the pandemic.