The media has been awash with unevidenced estimates

23 Sep 2022 | Full Fact's weekly news
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FACT CHECK
The media has been awash with unevidenced estimates
You may well have seen numerous (conflicting) estimates for how many people watched the Queen’s funeral. Here’s a quick rundown of how this developed, and which of these estimates are actually reliable.

Prior to the funeral on Monday, media outlets including the Metro, MailOnline and LBC reported that 4.1 billion people worldwide were expected to tune in to the coverage.

The source can be tracked down to one journalist who writes for a website which provides information on how to watch various popular TV programmes in different countries. It’s unclear how they calculated this figure, and we couldn’t find any data to support this claim.

On the day of the funeral, this estimate was supplanted on social media by claims that the BBC had reported a figure of 5.1 billion. When we contacted the BBC, they told us that they had not yet issued this (or any) viewing figure.

Things were complicated further the next day when BBC Radio Stoke reported this figure as fact, lending credibility to the claim. It remains the case that no data supports this number.

So how many people did watch the funeral? There’s no single source for global television viewing figures, with estimates instead based on viewing figures provided by individual countries. But we can at least at this stage make a reliable estimate of how many watched in the UK.

Data from Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board suggests a viewership for the service of 26.2m across all channels, with a reach of 29.2m. The BBC has estimated 32.5m people watched at least three consecutive minutes of its own coverage. These two estimates use different metrics, but constitute around half the population of the UK above the age of four.

Be wary of any outlet or person citing huge numbers without evidence.

What we do know about the viewing figures ([link removed])
FACT CHECK
Health secretary’s claim on health spending ([link removed])

In Parliament yesterday the new health secretary, Dr Thérèse Coffey, claimed 40% of the government’s day-to-day public spending goes on health and social care.

This is based on a definition of “day-to-day spending” which excludes large amounts of what may be reasonably called day-to-day spending, like pension and benefit payments, and is an issue which Full Fact has written about before.

If you look at all public spending which might reasonably be considered “day-to-day”, the picture is very different. While there are different ways to calculate an alternative proportion, government figures suggest health actually accounts for roughly a quarter of total day-to-day spending.

Understanding finance statistics ([link removed])
FACT CHECK
Asylum seekers do not get £175 per week on a prepaid card ([link removed])

Posts on Twitter and Facebook claim that “illegal immigrants” are being given ‘Aspen Cards’ loaded with £175 each week “as well as the cost of keeping them in hotels”. The mention of an Aspen Card (Asylum Support Enablement) suggests these social media users are referring to asylum seekers.

But asylum seekers get significantly less money on these cards.

Instead, destitute asylum seekers are eligible for an allowance of £40.85 per person per week. This is around £175 a month. Those in full-board contingency accommodation (like hotels or B&Bs) get £8.24 per week.

There are some additional amounts available for young children and pregnant women.

Asylum seeker payments ([link removed])
MORE FACT CHECKS
Also this week...
* Two week waiting time for GP appointments not official requirement ([link removed])
* Photo of Meghan Markle in outfit similar to Princess Diana’s was not taken at Queen’s funeral ([link removed])
* World Economic Forum has not said private vehicle ownership should be restricted to ‘elites’ ([link removed])

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