Joseph O’Leary

Training Manager

Joe has been fact checking UK politics and policy for over a decade, having joined the team in 2011. He has delivered training in fact checking to civil servants, statisticians, journalists and businesses, both in the UK and internationally, as well as designing accredited courses in data analysis for the FE sector. Joe also enjoys teaching critical thinking in primary and secondary schools, and regularly gives talks to journalism students. He is now designing courses to help businesses and employees use data with more confidence.

7 November 2014

Ask Full Fact: have one in five young people slept rough in the past year?

By Joseph O’Leary • 2 mins

Via Twitter: 'Survey: 18 per cent of young people have slept rough in the past year ... can this be right?' The claim comes from a ComRes survey commissioned by … Read

Analysis

6 November 2014

Immigration

What have immigrants contributed to the economy? Making sense of the headlines

By Joseph O’Leary • 4 mins

Immigration headlines appeared contradictory and others didn't say what 'kinds' of migrant they were referring to. Yet all the headlines refer to the same report. Read

Analysis

29 October 2014

Europe

Why the UK is being asked to pay £1.7 billion to the EU

By Joseph O’Leary • 5 mins

The European Commission has asked the UK to contribute an extra £1.7 billion to its budget by 1 December. The Prime Minister's words to MPs this week were defiant: "Britain … Read

Fact check

23 October 2014

Education

Examining today's GCSE results: what's behind the drop?

By Joseph O’Leary • 1 min

On the face of it, today's GCSE results figures are alarming: the proportion of pupils getting five A*-C grades, including English and Maths, fell from 59.2% last year to 52.6% … Read

Analysis

20 October 2014

Immigration

Factcheck: One million more migrants expected to come to London by 2030

By Joseph O’Leary • 2 mins

"British politicians need to be bolder in confronting some of the myths about immigration". So said the Times (£) last week in a leader article calling for politicians to confront … Read

Fact check

15 October 2014

Economy, Business & Finance

Factcheck: The minimum wage has not been going up in real terms

By Joseph O’Leary • 2 mins

"the minimum wage under this Government is going up, and going up in real terms" David Cameron, Prime Minister's Questions, 15 October 2014 Amidst yesterday's furore over comments made by … Read

Fact check

19 September 2014

Is the Scottish referendum turnout 'record breaking'?

By Joseph O’Leary • 1 min

"'Astonishing' Turnout Breaks UK Voting Records" reported Sky News this morning as 84.6% of the total electorate cast a vote in the Scottish referendum. Looking at the historical figures since … Read

Analysis

12 September 2014

MPs not claiming more expenses than ever

By Joseph O’Leary • 1 min

A number of papers this morning reported that MPs are now claiming "more than ever" or in some cases more than "at the peak of the expenses scandal". Some of … Read

Analysis

12 September 2014

Claims of 'permanent Conservative rule' after Scottish independence don't stand up to history

By Joseph O’Leary • 3 mins

"Yes vote 'would consign rest of the UK to permanent Conservative rule'" It's common to hear claims like this about the effect of Scottish independence on future UK elections. The … Read

Analysis

11 September 2014

Why we can't predict energy bills after Scottish independence

By Joseph O’Leary • 1 min

People in England and Wales could face cheaper energy bills if Scotland votes yes to independence, according to the BBC this morning. Sources from the energy industry told the broadcaster … Read

Analysis