Full Fact's twelve days of Christmas 2011
3 January 2012
Over the festive period, Full Fact has been reflecting on some of our bigger stories of 2011, arranged below in the style of a popular carol. We look forward to seeing you all in 2012!
- The Twelfth Day: December: Did group of Muslim women escape jail for attack because 'not used to alcohol'?
- The Eleventh Day: November: Smoke and mirrors? Is a smoky car 23 times more toxic than a smoky bar? (1 out of 5)
Credit to the British Medical Association for correcting the claim when we pointed out the problem.
- The Tenth Day: October: Catgate: the Mail wrong to claim cat was "key reason" in judgement
Following the Home Secretary's inaccurate claim that an immigrant was allowed to stay in Britiain because he owned a cat.
- The Ninth Day: September: Four million 'scrounger' families? A look at those worklessness statistics
A Daily Express front page gets a little more scrutiny, and a chance to highlight the Office for National Statistics' video series.
- The Eighth Day: August: Does Tottenham have the highest unemployment in the Capital? (3 out of 5)
Was Tottenham's MP justified in citing youth unemployment as part of the background to the disturbances?
- The Seventh Day: July: Cabinet Office exaggerated differences in Whitehall laptop costs
Did different parts of government really pay £350 and £2,000 for the same laptop?
- The Sixth Day:June: How exposed are UK banks if Greece defaults on its debt?
Full Fact's look at one claim behind the ongoing story of the year.
- The Fifth Day: May: AV Referendum: The facts on AV versus First Past the Post
The referendum campaigns left many people doubting what they could believe. Thanks to all who read, shared and contributed to our coverage.
- The Fourth Day:April: Is Britain borrowing enough to build a primary school in Rochdale every 20 minutes? (4 out of 5)
Full Fact's analysis of a claim Nick Clegg made to Gillian Duffy. A favourite not just because of the importance of the debt debate this year but also for the fun idea of primary schools breeding like rabbits in Rochdale!
- The Third Day: March: SEN Green Paper correctly reported, thanks to Full Fact
In our first success with the PCC, the Daily Mail became the last of several papers to correct inaccurate special educational needs reporting from six months previously.
- The Second Day: February: "Staggering" rise in Council chiefs' salaries - actually it's the FTSE250 (1 out of 5)
After we pointed out that the Department for Communities has mixed up public and private sector pay rises, they were good enough promptly to correct their press release.
- The First Day: January: Incapacity Benefit: Can 94% of claimants work? (1 out of 5)
Welfare Reform became a major topic for us this year as Parliament debated big changes to the benefits system. This was perhaps the most far out of the inaccurate headlines we saw, many of which we later got corrected.