We looked into a false claim from Sir William Cash MP

27 Jan 2023 | Full Fact's weekly news
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FACT CHECK
The UK does not offer 52 weeks of maternity pay
Conservative MP, Sir William Cash, claimed in the House of Commons that the UK offers 52 weeks of maternity pay.

As charity Pregnant Then Screwed pointed out, this is false. Employees who are eligible can get statutory maternity pay, which is paid for up to 39 weeks. Sir William may have been referring to statutory maternity leave, which is 52 weeks.

To qualify for statutory maternity pay you need to earn on average at least £123 per week, have given the correct notice and proof that you are pregnant, and have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks continuing into the ‘qualifying week’ (the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth).

This pay is 90% of your average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks and £156.66 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks. If someone on maternity pay is taking the full 52 weeks of maternity leave, the remaining 13 weeks are unpaid.

These statutory amounts are the minimum—some workplaces may have better benefits than this. ​​Those who don’t qualify may be eligible for maternity allowance.

To qualify for statutory maternity leave, as opposed to statutory maternity pay, you need to be an employee and have given the correct notice. We have contacted Sir William to ask for a correction.

How does the UK’s maternity pay compare to other countries? ([link removed])
FACT CHECK


** How much money does Labour receive from RMT and other unions? ([link removed])
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On Twitter, the Conservative Party, along with its party chair, Nadhim Zahawi, and various other MPs, suggested Labour chose to vote against government legislation on strike action because of its “union paymasters”. A graphic accompanying the tweet shows Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the pocket of Mick Lynch, head of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).

The RMT has previously stated that its lack of affiliation to the Labour Party means it is “deliberately misleading” to describe them as “paymasters” to the party.

While the RMT no longer sits on Labour’s National Executive Committee and is therefore unable to influence policy decisions at this level, the union has in recent years donated some money to the Labour Party and to individual MPs.

However, the amounts are small compared to the sums donated by other unions which are affiliated with Labour.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party told Full Fact: “The Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties and Labour MPs have pocketed nearly a quarter of a million pounds of RMT cash since 2010, with the most recent donation coming as recently as 2021.”

We looked into Electoral Commission records and found that since Sir Keir Starmer became Labour leader in April 2020, Labour has received donations of at least £17 million from trade unions, none of which came from the RMT. This excludes payments made to individual MPs.

The most recent RMT donation to a Labour MP was £17,482 to Ian Mearns in 2021 for his role as chair of the union’s parliamentary group.

Find out how much of Labour’s funding comes from trade unions ([link removed])
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We’re recruiting for a new Software Engineer.

Help us make sure those who make false claims in public debate can’t get away with it. You’ll tackle internet scale problems with a global user base, helping us make a difference in our fight against bad information.

The role is remote first, with an office available in central London. Applications close 6 February.

Applications close 6 February.
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FACT CHECK


** How many excess deaths are A&E delays causing? ([link removed])
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Earlier this month, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) made headlines with a widely-reported estimate that between 300 and 500 excess deaths are occurring each week in the UK due to A&E delays.

But NHS England (NHSE) spokespeople repeatedly stated that they “don’t recognise these numbers” and warned against “jumping to conclusions”.

With the figure facing renewed scrutiny this week as the RCEM and NHSE gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee on pressures in emergency care, we analysed where the estimate comes from and what other data is available.

While there’s a lot of uncertainty around the estimate, it appears plausible, and in fact may underplay the impact of emergency care delays.

When Full Fact attempted to reproduce the RCEM’s original calculations using the latest data on care delays, we found that the model estimated that 530 deaths a week were associated with A&E delays over 12 hours.

Others have calculated broadly similar estimates and risk expert Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter told Full Fact the figure is plausible.

Find out more ([link removed])
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