18 October 2019 | Facts and news from Full Fact

FULL FACT UPDATE: Thursday saw the publication of the withdrawal agreement between Boris Johnson's government and the EU. We'll be writing about this later today with the key things you need to know, so check in on fullfact.org later.

FACTCHECK

This post about nine years of a Conservative government gets a lot of things wrong

A tweet by a Labour councillor which makes claims about what has happened after “9 years of a Tory Government” has been shared over 13,000 times.

Three of the claims are wrong, and the other five need more context. We look at them below. We have emailed the councillor, and so far not received a response.

What's the real record?

FACTCHECK

Problematic estimate of Labour’s nationalisation plans

Earlier this week the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) released analysis estimating the cost of Labour’s nationalisation plans. It also said that on top of costing £196 billion, pensioners and savers would lose out.

This is misleading. The CBI’s own analysis says both outcomes could occur, but under different (and contradictory) scenarios.

Regardless, its method is disputed, and doesn’t factor in the potential economic benefits of nationalisation.

Misleading reporting

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FACTCHECK

This is not a diesel generator at an Extinction Rebellion protest

A photo of a diesel generator, claimed to be from the Extinction Rebellion “campsite in Hyde Park”, has been shared thousands of times on Twitter.

However, the photo is not from any event linked with Extinction Rebellion. It is from the Caterpillar Inc. website.

False photo

FACTCHECK

Voter ID scheme: far more turned away than convicted of electoral fraud

The Queen's speech on Monday reiterated the government’s plans for a new voter ID scheme, which would require whoever wants to vote to prove who they are with photographic ID.

This led to criticism online, with claims that the number of people convicted of impersonating someone else at a polling station (which the voter ID scheme is meant to combat) is much smaller than the number who have been prevented from voting due to government-run pilot voter ID schemes.

These claims are broadly accurate. More than four times as many people were prevented from voting in May 2019 due to the voter ID pilot scheme, than have been accused of impersonating someone else at a polling station since 2010.

Facts: identified

BLOG

Election law reform must be a priority: Full Fact response to the Queen’s Speech

Her Majesty’s speech also restated government plans to implement the imprint regime (where adverts must say who paid for them) for online as well as offline material, with technical proposals due “in the coming months”.

Reforms to laws on digital political campaigning are vital and long overdue. The Cabinet Office first promised such changes in May, but the government has yet to take action.

With a general election a high possibility, there remains a risk that such reforms will not be implemented in time to ensure that vote is properly protected.

We need action now

FACTCHECK

EU Flags were not replaced by Union Jacks outside of parliament

A viral post claims that EU flags were removed and replaced by the Union Jack for the opening of Parliament.

This is inaccurate. There were no flags—EU or otherwise—in parliament square in the weeks before the Union Jacks were put up.

It doesn’t fly

FACTCHECK

SNP members vote on plan for pensions in an independent Scotland

A Facebook post claimed that the SNP voted to increase the state pension in an independent Scotland to match the EU average at their conference which took place earlier this week.

That’s not quite right. The conference voted in favour of commissioning a plan to look at how pension levels could be increased. The resolution setting this out also mentioned that the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average of 63% of pre-retirement earnings should be set as a target.

This claim needs to retire

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