Plus an illustrative breakdown of what makes up fuel prices.

25 Mar 2022 | Full Fact's weekly news
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FACT CHECK
Why is petrol more expensive now than it was 15 years ago?

A number of social media posts claim that while the cost of petrol in the UK is much higher now than in 2008, the price of oil is actually lower, suggesting that retail fuel prices don’t mirror crude oil prices.

Despite some issues with the figures, it’s correct to say that petrol at that point in 2008 was cheaper in pounds than it is now, in spite of oil being more expensive.

Taxes and exchange rates have changed since 2008, which explain some of the price differences. Once you factor those out, road fuel prices paid by motorists move with the wholesale oil price, but the gap between crude oil prices and pre-tax fuel prices is larger now than it was back in 2008.

We’ve put together this helpful graphic to illustrate why fuel costs what it does.

The recently announced reduction in fuel duty of 5p per litre will cut 6p from the price of a litre of fuel (as VAT of 20% is charged on top of fuel duty).

How Russia has affected prices ([link removed])
Bad information ruins lives. The Online Safety Bill should be a pivotal moment in the way we tackle the harms caused by mis- and disinformation and safeguard freedom of expression.

As it stands, the Bill falls short of the Government’s aim to make the UK the safest place to be online and leaves the public vulnerable and exposed to online harms.

There is currently no credible plan to tackle the harms from online mis- and disinformation through the Bill. It must be strengthened.

What you need to know ([link removed])
FACT CHECK
Express publishes misleading article about safety of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine ([link removed])

A widely shared article on the Daily Express website makes a number of errors about the safety of the Pfizer vaccine.

It claims a new document, which has been the subject of many false claims online, shows 152,893 side effects from the Pfizer vaccine were revealed in clinical trials.

The document actually counts the number of adverse events following vaccination which are not “side effects,” as claimed in the article. The Express also falsely claims all the data is from clinical trials, and this is “the first time” trial data has been published, when trial safety data has been available since 2020.

The report contains details of 158,893 events taken from 42,086 case reports. These reports came from a mixture of sources, including “cases of AEs [adverse events] reported spontaneously to Pfizer, cases reported by the health authorities, cases published in the medical literature, cases from Pfizer-sponsored marketing programs, non-interventional studies, and cases of serious AEs reported from clinical studies regardless of causality assessment”.

The document was prepared after Pfizer’s vaccine received emergency use authorisation in the US on 11 December 2020, and before full approval on 23 August 2021.

Reports of adverse events following vaccination against Covid have been regularly assessed by the MHRA in the UK.

It says: “The expected benefits of the vaccines in preventing COVID-19 and serious complications associated with COVID-19 far outweigh any currently known side effects in the majority of patients.”

What the Express got wrong ([link removed])
FACT CHECK
Labour graph showing reduction in army size is misleading ([link removed])

A graph shared by Angela Rayner and local Labour party groups shows that the Conservatives cut the army from 98,000 personnel in 2010 to 72,500 in 2021 - a reduction of over 25,000. But 72,500 represents the planned army size by 2025, not the actual army size in 2021.

In 2021, at its smallest, the army had 76,348 full-time trade-trained personnel—around 21,650 fewer than in 2010.

We contacted Labour, Angela Rayner and the Wrexham Labour party to request corrections. They are still yet to respond.

Correct army figures ([link removed])
MORE FACT CHECKS
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* Video of person moving inside body bag isn’t from Ukraine ([link removed])
* No evidence quote about photo of child in Nagasaki is true ([link removed])

Read our latest fact checks ([link removed])
Dangerous false claims are still circulating about the war in Ukraine ([link removed])

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