Latest fact checks

Explore fact checks and topics

9 July 2012

How will capping student visas affect the economy?

Immigration is inevitably a contentious issue, both in terms of fact-checking and policy-making. Full Fact has had to look at several immigration-related claims, and has found that publicly-available data on …

Read more…
9 July 2012

Are eight times as many Lords over 90 than under 40?

Nick Clegg faced a harsh grilling in the House of Commons today in a much-anticipated debate over House of Lords reform. But are there really eight times as many nonagenarians …

Read more…
6 July 2012

How long are A&E waiting times?

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and his Labour shadow Andy Burnham this week disagreed about what Accident and Emergency waiting time data was actually telling us. So what do the figures …

Read more…
5 July 2012

Freedom of Information shows no evidence for thousands of 'never-worked' families

Earlier this year the Guardian ran an editorial attempting to debunk a 'convenient untruth' - the belief that there are potentially thousands of 'never-worked' families living on what have been …

Read more…
5 July 2012

Have bankers displaced politicians and journalists as the least trusted profession?

MPs will today debate what form the proposed inquiry into the banking practices will take, after the recently-deposed Barclays' chief executive Bob Diamond brought a political dimension to the Libor …

Read more…
4 July 2012

How not to report opinion polls: A guide from YouGov's Anthony Wells

This article was written by YouGov's Anthony Wells and originally published on the UK Polling Report site. He has kindly allowed us to feature it here. 1) Don't report Voodoo …

Read more…
4 July 2012

Do nearly half of children in care live outside the local authority responsible for them?

Yesterday, it was reported by The Guardian that 45 per cent of children in care live outside the local authority that has responsibility for them. Is this accurate?

Read more…
3 July 2012

UK Statistics Authority announces new board members

The watchdog responsible for keeping an eye on the use of official figures - the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) - this week announced the appointment of two new Deputy Chairs. …

Read more…
3 July 2012

Police station closures: HMIC fills in the gaps

Readers of this morning's Daily Mail might have been alarmed to learn that a fifth of all police stations were facing closure: Full Fact afficionardos with long memories might recall …

Read more…
2 July 2012

Do UK teen girls top the European binge drinking league table?

Two newspapers reported this morning that British girls drank to excess more than their European counterparts. Are they right?

Read more…
2 July 2012

Do more Armed Forces personnel die by suicide than in battle?

Respect party leader Salma Yaqoob tweeted on Armed Forces day what she claimed was the harsh truth about troops in Afghanistan - that more soldiers die by suicide than die …

Read more…
29 June 2012

Has the Government's Work Programme failed? Let's wait for the data.

Channel 4 News claimed to have a scoop yesterday after it unearthed data on the Government's much-discussed welfare-to-work scheme. which suggested the scheme was "failing to meet the minimum targets …

Read more…

Full Fact fights bad information

Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.