Daily Express front page on Labour welfare costs is misleading

IMPACT

The government needs to explain how it calculated “new” NHS funding

On Tuesday, the UK’s stats watchdog urged the government to explain its announcement of £1.8bn of "new money" for the NHS.

Full Fact scrutinised this claim at the time, but failed to get a full explanation on how this figure was reached.

We back this intervention. The government should not have issued a flagship policy announcement without being able to explain where the funding was coming from. 

With an election imminent, we all deserve better than the standards of the original announcement. 

FACTCHECK
 

It's not certain that 87 people a day are dying waiting for care

A widely reported Labour Party press release circulated the claim this week that 87 people are dying a day waiting for care (in England).

This isn't certain. There are official figures which closely match Labour’s claim on the surface, but they have limitations and there are some reasons to suspect the true figure may be lower.

FACTCHECK

The Supreme Court’s Lord Kerr didn’t write the Lisbon Treaty

Following the unanimous decision of the UK Supreme Court that the government’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful, Conservative politician and former MEP David Campbell Bannerman seemed to claim on Twitter that Lord Kerr, one of the eleven justices who heard the prorogation case, was the author of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. 

This is wrong. The Lord Kerr who sits on the Supreme Court is a different Lord Kerr to the Lord Kerr who was an author of Article 50.

FACTCHECK

Diabetes headline based on flawed research

A recent Daily Express front page claimed one in four hospital beds will be occupied by a diabetic by 2030.

The figure comes from unpublished estimates by Diabetes UK, which have a number of problems and can't be used as a prediction about the future.

That said, it’s likely that the number of people with diabetes will increase over the next decade as the population ages.

FACTCHECK

UK citizens can’t be conscripted into an ‘EU army’

A widely shared Facebook image claims that the EU army will call up all 16 to 25 year olds to serve in an army for the European Union.

It’s incorrect. There is no EU army, and the EU has no formal plans for an EU army, or for military conscription.

Even if there were, the UK could not be “forced” to participate in EU military policies even if we stay in the EU, as member countries have a veto on EU security and defence policy.

FACTCHECK

Edited photo of Greta Thunberg

A picture circulating online claims to show Swedish activist Greta Thunberg with George Soros. It's a fake, having been edited from a picture of Miss Thunberg with former US Vice President Al Gore.

You can read more about how to spot misleading images.

FACTCHECK

Luxembourg isn’t the biggest beneficiary of the EU

In the aftermath of Boris Johnson’s planned (and unattended) press conference in Luxembourg, a number of Facebook posts have claimed that Luxembourg receives the most EU spending relative to what it pays in, and will be getting back 3,304% of what it pays by 2022.

It’s incorrect. The amount that Luxembourg received in EU spending in 2018 was roughly 105% of what it paid in to the EU budget. Sixteen other EU countries received a higher level of spending, relative to what they paid in, than Luxembourg.

FACTCHECK

Does badger culling work?

A Labour MP claimed bovine TB increased dramatically in areas of Gloucestershire despite badger culling.

This is based on too small an area and short a time period to be meaningful. But wider evidence suggests the impact of culling is limited at best.