Why politicians silence on correction requests is undermining public trust

20 March 2024 | Craig Dawson

Politicians are failing to respond to Full Fact’s interventions seeking corrections when they make a false or misleading statement. In the first two months of 2024 alone, we’ve contacted 14 politicians seeking a correction to a false or misleading statement. All of them have yet to respond.

In a general election year, it is imperative that the standards of public debate are the highest possible to give voters the ability to make an informed choice.

 

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Contents:

1. Here is a list of MPs who we've contacted but have yet to respond

  1. Steve Brine MP
  2. Bim Afolami MP
  3. Grant Shapps MP
  4. Andrea Leadsom MP
  5. Robin Millar MP
  6. Jonathan Gullis MP
  7. Lee Anderson MP
  8. Brendan Clarke-Smith MP
  9. Richard Holden MP
  10. Rishi Sunak MP
  11. Oliver Dowden MP
  12. Angela Rayner MP
  13. Janet Daby MP
  14. Anneliese Dodds MP

2. What are Full Fact doing to hold MPs to account for the claims they make?

 

3. What can you do to help uplift standards in public debate?

 

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1. Here is a list of MPs who we've contacted but have yet to respond:

 

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2. What are Full Fact doing to hold MPs to account for the claims they make?

As well as seeking corrections from MPs, Full Fact has launched a campaign looking at the claims MPs make in leaflets to their constituents. One key area of concern is how political parties are dressing up campaign literature to look like local newspapers. 

This risks misleading the public about the nature of a piece of literature making it harder for voters to separate political campaigning from trusted local news sources. We’re calling for political parties to stop this before the announcement of the general election.

 

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3. What can you do to help uplift standards in public debate?

There are several steps you can take to help hold those in power to account for the statements they make. 

  1. Join over 15,000 people and sign our petition calling for an end to politicians presenting leaflets as newspapers. 
  2. Subscribe to our mailing list 
  3. Help keep politicians honest by donating to support Full Fact.

 

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All images courtesy of the House of Commons


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