The PM made the claims in a series of local BBC interviews

30 Sep 2022 | Full Fact's weekly news
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FACT CHECK
PM repeatedly wrong about energy bills cap

Over the weekend, Liz Truss wrongly claimed on CNN that, as a result of the forthcoming Energy Price Guarantee, "no household is having to pay more than £2,500 on those energy bills."

We wrote to the Prime Minister and told her this was incorrect. But yesterday morning, she repeated the claim multiple times in local BBC interviews.

This is wrong, according to the government’s own figures. £2500 is the average a typical household will pay, not the maximum amount any household will pay. Depending on property type and energy usage, some households will pay more than this and some will pay less.

For example, according to the government, the typical bill for a detached house with average use will be £3,300, while for a semi-detached house it will be £2,650. By comparison, the typical bill for someone living in a purpose built flat with average use will be £1,750.

At other points in her interviews with local BBC radio stations, Ms Truss said £2,500 would be the maximum "typical" fuel bill, which is more accurate, though potentially still confusing as it doesn’t explicitly mention usage. The Prime Minister should publicly correct her claim.

Explaining the £2,500 figure ([link removed])
We’ve written again to the Prime Minister ([link removed]) about her false claims on local BBC radio, pointing out that almost two in five households (38%) wrongly believe that the Government’s energy price guarantee means their bills cannot go above £2,500, according to research by Opinium.

Journalists have asked No 10 if they will correct the mistake. In response, they have pointed to interviews where Liz Truss has explained the price guarantee accurately. It shouldn’t be up to the public to switch channels until they find an interview where the Prime Minister correctly describes a policy that will impact every household’s finances this winter.

Honesty in politics means correcting your mistakes, and there’s nothing more expensive than a dishonest politician. Ms Truss talked about the need for honesty during her campaign. It’s up to her to decide whether or not she will lead by example now she’s Prime Minister.
Will Moy—Chief Executive
Full Fact
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FACT CHECKS
The Labour Conference ([link removed])

We’ve been scrutinising claims being made at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, which wrapped up this week. Sir Keir Starmer gave the keynote speech, covering the government’s recent policy announcements, the cost of living and the war in Ukraine, among other things. We looked at four claims in detail:

Keir Starmer: fact checked ([link removed])
The day before, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves criticised the Conservatives’ record in office, saying: "Have they even got the debt and deficit down? No … It’s 12 years of failure."

Let’s look at debt first. It’s true that UK public sector debt has increased from 62.4% of GDP in 2009 to 95.5% at the end of the last financial year. But things are a bit more complex when you look at the deficit.

When Labour were last in power, the deficit stood at 10.1% of GDP. This fell to a low of 2% in 2018/19 during the Conservatives’ tenure. It rose again during the pandemic, and now sits at 6.1%, 4 percentage points lower than when they entered government.

That said, the deficit in 2009/10 partly reflected the impact of the financial crisis on public finances. On average, during the 13 years of Labour government, the deficit averaged 2.7% of GDP. In the subsequent 12 years it has averaged 5.7%.

Debt and deficit ([link removed])
FACT CHECK
Andy Burnham did not say he was a ‘better politician’ than Keir Starmer ([link removed])

A Sun article claimed that Andy Burnham had said he was “a ‘better politician’ than Keir Starmer”. But the remarks they’re referring to didn’t mention the Labour leader at all.

The Greater Manchester mayor was instead comparing his current political abilities with those when he contested the Labour leadership.

After we contacted the newspaper, The Sun corrected its article.

What Andy Burnham actually said ([link removed])
MORE FACT CHECKS
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