Boris Johnson
We’ve fact checked Boris Johnson 72 times.
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We’ve fact checked Boris Johnson 72 times
Full Fact scrutinises claims made by public figures on all sides of political debate. We prioritise claims that have the potential to cause most harm.
Our team isn’t able to monitor and fact check all claims made by people in public life, so this list isn’t exhaustive.
Was Boris Johnson right to dispute Covid Inquiry evidence on excess deaths?
the ONS data I saw put us I think about 16th or 19th in a table of 33
Boris Johnson, 6 December 2023
Boris Johnson repeats false claim about Keir Starmer voting 48 times to ‘take us back’ into the EU
He talks about integrity; he voted 48 times to overturn the will of the British people and take us back into the European Union.
Boris Johnson, 6 July 2022
The Coalition did not build more affordable homes in a year than Labour did in 13 years of government
We built more affordable homes in one year of the incoming Conservative government after 2010—or Coalition government—than the Labour party did in 13 years in office.
Boris Johnson, 9 June 2022
Not everybody is getting their passports issued in four to six weeks
To the best of my knowledge, everybody is getting their passport within four to six weeks.
Boris Johnson, 25 May 2022
How many jobs has Crossrail created?
“I thought it was fantastic by the way, yesterday, to see Her Majesty the Queen open Crossrail. 72,000 jobs that has already delivered”.
Boris Johnson, 18 May 2022
Boris Johnson’s GMB interview: fact checked
Just to remind you that the the 24 hour Freedom bus pass was something that I actually introduced
Boris Johnson, 3 May 2022
Boris Johnson makes false employment claim for ninth time in Parliament
more people in work than there were before the pandemic
Boris Johnson, 20 April 2022
Did David Blunkett propose sending asylum seekers abroad in 2004?
I was slightly taken aback for the Government to be criticised over the policy that we have devised to end the deaths at sea in the Channel as a result of cruel criminal gangs…Do you know who proposed that policy first of all, in 2004? It was David Blunkett, who said, yes it was, it was a 21st century solution to the problems of illegal asylum-seeking and immigration.
Boris Johnson, 20 April 2022
Boris Johnson repeats misleading claim on number of people in employment
430,000 more in employment now than before the pandemic began
Boris Johnson, 23 February 2022
Boris Johnson’s claims on UK accepting people fleeing conflict miss vital context
“I think we have taken more vulnerable people fleeing theatres of conflict since 2015 than any other country in Europe.”
Boris Johnson, 2 March 2022
Keir Starmer hasn’t voted 48 times to take the UK back into the EU
Today, we have delivered yet more Brexit freedoms with a new freeport in Tilbury, as I said, when he voted 48 times to take this country back into the EU.
Boris Johnson, 31 January 2022
Numbers ‘in work’ not yet back to pre-pandemic levels
There are now more people in work in this country [...] than there were before the pandemic began.
Boris Johnson, 24 November 2021
Boris Johnson’s PPE figures don’t tell the whole story
Thanks to the efforts of people across Whitehall, this country is now capable of producing 80% of our own PPE.
Boris Johnson, 19 January 2022
PM misleads on employment figures, again
We now have 420,000 more people in employment than there were before the pandemic began
Boris Johnson, 18 January 2022
UK is fastest growing G7 economy by one measure, and fifth by another
We now have the fastest growing economy in the G7
Boris Johnson, 12 January 2022
Boris Johnson misspoke about unvaccinated people in ICU
90% of the people who are in ICU with Covid have not been vaccinated.
Boris Johnson, 10 January 2022
Boris Johnson did say inflation fears had been ‘unfounded’
Of course I said no such thing because inflation is always something we have to be careful about
Boris Johnson, 5 January 2022
Is income inequality falling?
If we look at the statistics, we see that economic inequality is down in this country
Boris Johnson, 5 January 2022
The Warm Home Discount is £140 for the entire winter, not a week
2.2 million people supported with the Warm Homes Discount, Mr Speaker, worth £140 per week
Boris Johnson, 5 January 2022
UK booster roll out level twice the EU average
We've done almost double the percentage [of boosters] of any other European country
Boris Johnson, 15 December 2021
Falling crime is related to pandemic lockdowns
“Crime has been falling, and not just, by the way, because we took the precaution of locking up the public for much of the last 18 months, but because you have a Conservative government that understands the broken windows theory of fighting crime.”
Boris Johnson, 6 October 2021
Marr wrong to claim PM wasn’t telling the truth on wages
What you’re also seeing is finally growth in wages after more than 10 years of flatlining
Boris Johnson, 3 October 2021
Boris Johnson was wrong to say that “everybody” is entitled to extra self-isolation support
Mr Speaker he’s quite wrong because everybody who’s self-isolating is entitled, in addition to the equivalent of the living wage at statutory sick pay, they’re entitled also to help in extreme circumstances from their local councils and also to a £500 payment to help them with self-isolation
Boris Johnson, 21 July 2021
Was Dawn Butler right about Boris Johnson ‘lying’ to Parliament?
The economy, under this Conservative government, has grown by 73%
Boris Johnson, 29 January 2020
Boris Johnson was broadly right about aid spending
Under this government, we’ve spent more [on overseas aid], and we continue to spend more than Labour ever did.
Boris Johnson, 9 June 2021
Boris Johnson repeats misleading council tax comparison
On average, Labour councils charge you £93 more in band D than Conservative councils, and Liberal Democrat councils charge you £120 more
Boris Johnson, 28 April 2021
Clearing up the NHS pay debate
The right hon. and learned Gentleman voted against the document in question, which just crowns the absurdity of his point.
Boris Johnson, 10 March 2021
‘Get Covid and live longer’? Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp at Covid Inquiry fact checked
I must say I have been slightly rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities. The median age is 82-81 for men and 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get Covid and live longer.
Boris Johnson, 15 October 2020
Boris Johnson makes an error about quarantine payments
“£500 if you do [self-isolate], per week, and a £10,000 fine if you don’t.”
Boris Johnson, 5 October 2020
Data on how far people travel to get a Covid-19 test isn’t all that useful
"Just in the last week, the average distance that people have had to go for a test has come down from 6 or 7 miles to 5 miles.”
Boris Johnson, 15 September 2020
Does any country have 'a functioning track and trace app'?
"Yes of course it’s perfectly true that it would be great to have an app, but no country currently has a functioning track and trace app.”
Boris Johnson, 23 June 2020
Boris Johnson incorrect to say Keir Starmer is “completely wrong” about past trends in child poverty
Absolutely poverty and relative poverty have both declined under this Government and there are hundreds of thousands—I think 400,000—fewer families living in poverty now than there were in 2010.
Boris Johnson, 17 June 2020
Boris Johnson overstates number of schools with returning students
All the evidence—97% of the schools that have submitted data are now seeing kids come back to school.
Boris Johnson, 10 June 2020
New data reveals PM’s testing speeds claims as wrong
The tests conducted at the 199 testing centres, as well as the mobile test centres, are all done within 24 hours, and I can undertake to him now to get all tests turned around in 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that.
Boris Johnson, 3 June 2020
The government says 125,000 workers in care settings and 118,000 care home residents have been tested for Covid-19
118,000 care home workers have been tested
Boris Johnson, 27 May 2020
The government was wrong on its own data on Covid-19 tests for care homes
“Mr Speaker, I’m afraid he is simply in ignorance of the facts. Because the reality is that already 125,000 care home staff have been tested, 118,000—perhaps he didn’t know that Mr Speaker—118,000 care home workers have been tested and we are absolutely confident that we will be able to increase our testing not just in care homes but across the whole of the community.”
Boris Johnson, 20 May 2020
How much have healthcare workers paid through the immigration health surcharge?
we must look at the realities. This is a great national service—it is a national institution—that needs funding, and those contributions help us to raise about £900 million
Boris Johnson, 20 May 2020
We still don’t know if the UK does the most Covid-19 tests in Europe
This country is now testing more than virtually any other country in Europe
Boris Johnson, 20 May 2020
We don’t know exactly how many NHS workers have died from Covid-19
"One hundred and eighty-one NHS and 131 social care workers’ deaths have sadly been reported involving covid-19. I know that the thoughts of the whole House are with their families and friends."
Boris Johnson, 20 May 2020
Government guidance withdrawn in March did say it was ‘very unlikely’ people in care homes would be infected with Covid-19
“It wasn’t true that the advice said that.”
Boris Johnson, 13 May 2020
Boris Johnson mistakenly said that Covid-19 could be monitored through the water supply
if the covid is detected in the water supply of a certain town or in a school in an area
Boris Johnson, 11 May 2020
Here is the transcript of what Boris Johnson said on This Morning about the new coronavirus
"Well it’s a very, very important question, and that’s where a lot of the debate has been and one of the theories is, that perhaps you could take it on the chin, take it all in one go and allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population, without taking as many draconian measures."
Boris Johnson, 5 March 2020
Scotland’s maths and science scores are falling in international tests but rising in national tests
Maths and science in schools in Scotland, unlike any other part of the United Kingdom, is going down in the PISA rankings
Boris Johnson, 15 January 2020
Since 2010, the UK has granted protection to around 41,000 asylum seekers and refugees under the age of 18
"Not only have we taken 41,000 unaccompanied children since 2010…”
Boris Johnson, 29 January 2020
Boris Johnson gets his numbers muddled on economic growth
“We should not forget that this country has reduced CO2 emissions already by 42% on 1990 levels, while the economy, under this Conservative Government, has grown by 73%.”
Boris Johnson, 29 January 2020
Alex Cunningham and Boris Johnson both used the wrong figures about health inequality
None the less, it is coming down, and it will come down.
Boris Johnson, 22 January 2020
Universal Credit has not got 200,000 people into work
"Universal Credit has in fact succeeded in getting 200,000 people into jobs.”
Boris Johnson, 22 January 2020
Boris Johnson’s first interview of 2020: fact checked
“There will be 50,000 more nurses going into our NHS, we will have 6,000 more GPs…”
Boris Johnson, 14 January 2020
No single figure about child poverty tells the whole story
“Actually there are 400,000 fewer children in poverty than there were in 2010.”
Boris Johnson, 1 December 2019
The £20.5 billion NHS England spending increase is the largest five year increase since the mid-2000s
“The figure that we're spending is £34 billion - it’s the biggest increase in modern memory in the NHS.”
Boris Johnson, 15 November 2019
Boris Johnson repeats his false claim that extending Brexit costs £1 billion a month
"They made it inevitable that the people of this country would be retained in the EU against their will for at least another three months, at a cost of another £1 billion a month.”
Boris Johnson, 28 October 2019
This quote attributed to Boris Johnson is not real
“It was this Conservative government that tackled the debt and the deficit left by the last Labour government.”
Boris Johnson, 2 October 2019
It’s not true to say a Brexit extension would cost £1 billion
“I think that it would be a mistake to keep the UK bound in beyond the time that the people want to come out… at a cost of £1 billion a month.”
Boris Johnson, 1 October 2019
The government has given six hospitals money to upgrade buildings
“I've been launching our programme to build 40 new hospitals in this country”
Boris Johnson, 29 September 2019
Scotland doesn’t have the highest taxes in Europe
They have the highest taxes anywhere in Europe.
Boris Johnson, 4 September 2019
Would an extension to Brexit cost £1 billion a month?
He wants to spend £1 billion a month—net—to keep us in the EU beyond 31 October.
Boris Johnson, 4 September 2019
Does a no deal Brexit mean no divorce bill?
"If we come out without an agreement it is certainly true that the £39 billion is no longer strictly speaking owed."
Boris Johnson, 25 August 2019
Can refugees enter the UK illegally?
“The UK should not be regarded as a place where you can automatically come and break the law by seeking to arrive illegally. If you come illegally, you are an illegal migrant, and I’m afraid the law will treat you as such.”
Boris Johnson, 23 August 2019
How many rapists reoffend?
“In the last five years, we have seen literally hundreds of convicted rapists who have come out of prison commit another sexual offence.”
Boris Johnson, 11 August 2019
Money for the NHS: is it new or not?
“Don’t forget this is £1.8 billion of new money, it wasn’t there 10 days ago.”
Boris Johnson, 5 August 2019
Boris Johnson’s kipper claim is a red herring
“I want you to consider this kipper which has been presented to me just now by the editor of a national newspaper who received it from a kipper smoker in the Isle of Man who is utterly furious because, after decades of sending kippers like this through the post, he has had his costs massively increased by Brussels bureaucrats who have insisted that each kipper must be accompanied by this, a plastic ice pillow .”
Boris Johnson, 17 July 2019
The withdrawal agreement is not a trade deal with the EU
“If we continually try to wrap ourselves around the current withdrawal agreement, and we remain in the customs union, and in the single market, which is effectively what is entailed by the present withdrawal agreement...”
Boris Johnson, 9 July 2019
Boris Johnson repeats an old line about “GATT Article 24”
“There will be no tariffs, there will be no quotas because what we want to do is to get a standstill in our current arrangements under GATT 24, or whatever it happens to be, until such a time as we have negotiated the FTA.”
Boris Johnson, 18 June 2019
Did crime fall while Boris Johnson was Mayor of London?
We got the murder rate down
Boris Johnson, 3 June 2019
You can’t have an “implementation period” after Brexit without a deal
“How will we be able to take back control of our laws? Will we really do free trade deals? And can we really go on with a negotiating team that has so resoundingly failed? If she cannot give that evidence of change—she should drop the deal, and go back to Brussels, and simply set out the terms that so many on both sides—remainers and leavers— now believe are sensible.
“Extend the implementation period to the end of 2021 if necessary; use it to negotiate a free trade deal; pay the fee; but come out of the EU now—without the backstop. It is time for the PM to channel the spirit of Moses in Exodus, and say to Pharaoh in Brussels—LET MY PEOPLE GO.”
Boris Johnson, 24 March 2019
Irish border: how much trade?
“Only 5 per cent of Northern Ireland’s GDP goes to Ireland, and only 1.6 per cent of Irish exports go to Northern Ireland. There are only about 50 large companies that trade across the frontier”
Boris Johnson, 3 September 2018
Do EU rules prevent safer lorries?
Indeed we seem to have gone backwards since the last Chequers meeting in February, when I described my frustrations, as Mayor of London, in trying to protect cyclists from juggernauts. We had wanted to lower the cabin windows to improve visibility; and even though such designs were already on the market, and even though there had been a horrific spate of deaths, mainly of female cyclists, we were told that we had to wait for the EU to legislate on the matter… If a country cannot pass a law to save the lives of female cyclists - when that proposal is supported at every level of UK government - then I don't see how that country can truly be called independent
Boris Johnson, 9 July 2018
What happened to violent crime in London since 2008?
“We cut the murder rate by 50 per cent. We got the murder rate down to fewer than 100 a year for several years running, which is amazing for a city of 8.5 million.”
Boris Johnson, 18 April 2018
£350 million EU claim "a clear misuse of official statistics"
“And yes – once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350 million per week. It would be a fine thing, as many of us have pointed out, if a lot of that money went on the NHS”.
Boris Johnson, 15 September 2017
Is the EU ‘pinching our fish’?
"[The EU is] Pinching our fish"
Boris Johnson, 16 June 2016
Does a 10% rise in immigration lead to a 2% reduction in wages?
“As the Bank of England said, for every 10% growth in immigration there is a 2% reduction in wages. That bears thinking about.”
Boris Johnson, 9 June 2016
Is there a "£20bn black hole" in the EU's finances?
“And now we find that there is £20bn billion black hole in the EU's finances.”
Boris Johnson, 6 June 2016
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