This week the Queen’s Speech set out the legislative agenda of the UK government for the coming year.

14 May 2021 | Full Fact's weekly news
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FACT CHECK
Voter ID and the Queen’s Speech: what you need to know
This week the Queen’s Speech set out the legislative agenda of the UK government for the coming year.

Included was the government’s intention to introduce legislation that will require all UK voters to provide photo ID at polling stations to vote in future elections.

Also confirmed was the government’s long-awaited Online Safety Bill.

We discuss the Queen’s Speech, what we do and don’t know about voter ID plans, and why the Online Safety Bill is so important, in the first episode of the third series of the Full Fact podcast:
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Friend, dangerous health claims are still surging. You’re helping protect people from false information

This week we’ve fact checked claims that eating cucumbers stops lung cancer, honey and ginger cures Covid-19, Covid-19 swabs are harmful, and that Covid-19 vaccines are ‘experimental’.

All these claims are false–but people are still sharing them. Rumours like this put lives at risk, and threaten to prolong the pandemic.

As independent fact checkers, our 2,400 monthly supporters are our best guarantee that dangerously false information can be consistently scrutinised and challenged.

But bad information is still surging. Can you help ensure people are protected over the coming months?
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ANALYSIS
Why the Online Safety Bill matters ([link removed])

Bad information ruins lives. The online misinformation that has come with the pandemic has made this even more evident. We can’t afford to go on relying on internet companies to make decisions without independent scrutiny and transparency.

Full Fact has long called for the government to take action. Confirmation this week that the Online Safety Bill will go ahead is welcome, but overdue. Good legislation and regulation could make a significant difference in tackling bad information online.

But inside and out of Parliament, this Bill will require close scrutiny. Law and regulation for online safety must be balanced with the need to protect—and enhance—freedom of expression. Tackling misinformation shouldn’t just be handed over to a Government-appointed regulator.

The draft Online Safety Bill was published on Wednesday and Full Fact will publish a full analysis soon.
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LONG READ
Why is the Nuremberg Code being used to oppose Covid-19 vaccines? ([link removed])

As the UK Covid-19 vaccine roll out has gathered pace, and the use of “vaccine passports” continues to be debated, we’ve seen a number of people voice their opposition online.

A claim we’re seeing time and time again is that the vaccine programme is an infringement of their rights under the Nuremberg Code.

The Nuremberg Code is a set of ethical research principles, developed in the wake of Nazi atrocities during World War Two.

In our latest long read feature, we speak to experts in medical ethics, healthcare law and social epidemiology about the Code and its principles.

What they told us was clear: the Code is not relevant to current debates about the Covid-19 vaccine. For example, the Nuremberg Code relates specifically to experimentation—the three Covid vaccines currently in use in the UK have been shown to be safe and effective in large scale clinical trials.
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JOIN THE TEAM
New jobs at Full Fact

We’re recruiting for three new roles in our Policy and Advocacy team:
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* Policy and Government Relations Manager ([link removed])
* Policy and Parliamentary Relations Manager ([link removed])

Applications close 10am Tuesday 25 May.
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FACT CHECK
Daily Express’ Covid map uses all the wrong numbers: now corrected ([link removed])

Last week we wrote about a map in the print version of the Daily Express which gave a very misleading impression of the current state of the pandemic in the UK.

It claimed to show the number of new Covid cases in each nation and region of the UK, with several apparently showing zero cases.

In fact, all these numbers were wrong.

We wrote to the Daily Express and are pleased that they agreed to correct the record. A correction appeared in the print edition of the paper on Monday.
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MORE FACT CHECKS
Also this week...
* Honey, ginger and pepper isn’t approved treatment for Covid-19 ([link removed])
* Conflicting claims about ‘new’ cancer drug thanks to Brexit are both misleading ([link removed])
* You don’t usually need photo ID to pick up a parcel ([link removed])
* Pictures of Parliament don’t tell the whole story ([link removed])
* How the BBC makes money ([link removed])
* Sun wrong to claim lockdown doubled suicide rates ([link removed])
* Letter to MHRA is filled with false Covid-19 claims ([link removed])

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All the best,
Team Full Fact

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