BBC Question Time Leaders’ Special: fact checked

The leaders of four political parties were quizzed by members of the public in a two-hour BBC Question Time Leaders’ Special on 20 June. 

The show was hosted by Fiona Bruce and saw each party leader—the Liberal Democrats’ Sir Ed Davey, the SNP’s John Swinney, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservatives’ Rishi Sunak—faced with 30 minutes of questions from members of a live studio audience in York. 

Full Fact’s fact checkers followed the programme live, and scrutinised the claims made in real time. Here’s a round-up of some of those we looked at.

Sir Ed Davey - Liberal Democrats

First to face the audience was the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who fielded questions about the NHS, university tuition fees, the economy and his series of general election stunts.

Mr Davey talked about his party’s manifesto pledge to “recruit 8,000 more GPs”.

This was one of the headline-grabbing pledges in the Liberal Democrat manifesto, but crucially, the manifesto didn’t say if those GPs would be fully qualified. That’s important because GP workforce stats can paint a very different picture depending on whether you count trainees.

The Liberal Democrats have now told us that “at least 7,000” of the extra GPs would be fully qualified.

Mr Davey said that there are “hundreds of thousands of children waiting to get care, to get counselling, to get therapy”.

That is correct. According to a report by the Children’s Commissioner in March, some 270,300 children and young people in England were waiting for mental health support after referral to Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services in 2022/23.

Mr Davey also said GPs are leaving to work in Australia. 

It’s true that doctors are leaving the UK, and the numbers appear to have risen since 2019.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has previously told Full Fact that in 2023, the number of doctors issued a certificate required to work abroad was 40.9% higher than in 2019. 

These doctors could be working anywhere, not just Australia, and applying for a certificate doesn’t always mean they leave—but the GMC says it may show intention.

And a 2022 GMC survey showed more doctors left primarily to practise abroad (25%) than to retire (24%). 

On the economy, Mr Davey said people have seen “huge tax rises under this government to record levels”. 

It’s correct to say that the tax burden was at the highest level for 70 years in 2022/23. And current Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts—which are based on existing government plans—show the tax burden is set to increase in each of the next five years, reaching 37.1% in 2028/29. That would be the second highest level on record.

However, it’s also worth noting that the average earner’s effective personal tax rate (based on the rate of income tax and National Insurance) is the lowest it’s been since 1975. 

John Swinney - Scottish National Party

Next up was Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the SNP John Swinney, who answered questions about Scotland’s future, the potential for another independence referendum, turmoil within his party and the country’s manufacturing industries. 

Mr Swinney claimed that Scotland has “the best performing accident and emergency system in the United Kingdom”. 

This is broadly correct for the most recent comparable data on the ‘four-hour target’ in major A&E units. (The four-hour target stipulates that 95% of people arriving at an A&E department should be admitted to hospital, transferred to a more appropriate care setting or discharged home within four hours.)

However, some other measurements of A&E performance suggest Scotland’s relative performance is not quite as good. For example, if you look at the four-hour target for all types of A&E units (including minor injury units), Scotland has worse performance than England and Wales—67.4% compared to 74.4% and 70.3% respectively.

Mr Swinney also said measures the SNP has taken to tackle child poverty are keeping “100,000 children out of poverty in Scotland today”.

Modelling does suggest that this many children will be kept out of relative poverty in 2024/25 by Scottish government policies generally.

Of this number, 60,000 are expected to be kept out of poverty specifically because of the Scottish Child Payment.

Sir Keir Starmer - Labour

During his 30-minute section of the programme, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer answered a range of questions about the NHS, migration, social care and housing.

Mr Starmer claimed the last Labour government “got the waiting lists to the lowest ever level and the highest possible satisfaction in the NHS”. 

We’ve looked at this before. It’s not clear how different periods of history can be accurately compared in order to make these claims. 

Mr Starmer also said the single most common reason that six to 10-year-olds are admitted to hospital is to have teeth extractions due to tooth decay. 

We wrote about a similar claim from Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting last year.

The most recent data we’ve found on this is for a slightly different age group, but the latest figures for children aged five to nine in England do show tooth decay was the most common reason for hospital admission. 

On the topic of immigration, Mr Starmer said “migration is at record levels under this government”. 

Net migration did reach record levels in 2022, though it fell by about 10% in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It’s worth noting though, as we wrote last month, that net migration in 2023 was nearly four times the figure in 2019, when the Conservative party said in its manifesto it would bring down “overall numbers”. 

During Mr Starmer’s section of the programme, a Question Time audience member mentioned the possibility of a Labour “supermajority”.

That’s a term we’ve heard a lot in recent days, but there’s no specific definition of what a “supermajority” is in UK parliamentary terms. 

While the size of a party can affect select committee roles and financial aid, the Institute for Government says “in parliamentary terms the difference between an 80-seat and 200-seat majority is not material”. 

We’re working on an in-depth explainer about this which we hope to publish in the coming days.

Rishi Sunak - Conservatives

Finally, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quizzed by members of the Question Time audience about a range of issues, including his party’s record in government, immigration and the Rwanda policy, as well as health and the Conservatives’ plans for national service for young people.

Speaking about NHS waiting lists, Mr Sunak twice said they are now “starting to come down”. 

NHS waiting lists peaked in September 2023 before beginning to come down, but have ticked back up in the most recent data. 

The latest NHS England figures, for April 2024, show about 6.33 million people were waiting to begin 7.57 million courses of treatment, up slightly from 6.29 million people and 7.54 million cases in March. 

He then claimed there are “more doctors and nurses working” in the NHS “than ever before”. That’s true. In February 2024, there were 140,653 doctors and 353,969 nurses (based on full-time equivalent figures) which are the highest numbers since comparable figures began in 2009.

But the King’s Fund health think tank has noted in the past that the NHS workforce is growing, but not rapidly enough to meet demand. 

Mr Sunak also said during the programme that he wants to “keep cutting your taxes”.

Earlier this year National Insurance was reduced from 12% to 10% and then to 8%, but the so-called ‘tax burden’ is high, and is forecast to rise further. 

As we’ve written in our explainer, the effective personal tax rate is at its lowest since 1975, but this doesn’t include all the taxes people pay.