That Was The Year That Was

20 December 2012

2012 was the year that:

Kelvin MacKenzie berated lazy Northerners, alleging that the UK would have an economy like Ethopia's without London and the South East (actually, we'd be ranked with Canada or that BRIC powerhouse, India);

The Spectator told its readers that there was a qualification in "how to claim the dole" (something of an exaggeration);

The Sunday Times announced that there were fewer than 100 mature cod remaining in the North Sea (there are 21 million); 

The Guardian described Apple as "the most valuable company of all time" (in fact, it's Microsoft);

The Daily Express proclaimed that millions of Britons "must work forever" (based on 15 responses to a PR company's survey).

Our factchecking also confirmed that:

Disability claims have trebled in 20 years; two thirds of those who rioted in 2011 have Special Educational Needs; in the UK your earnings are more likely to reflect your parents' than in any other developed country; each seat on a Boris Johnson Routemaster bus is the price of a new BMW; and dementia has already cost the UK economy £23 billion.

We mapped the postcode lottery that is our "broken" social care system. We examined how many foreign nationals are claiming benefits and whether Asian men are disproportionately represented in prosecutions for sex offences. We explained the limits of the Gini co-efficient and analysed the benefits bill.

We challenged the government to identify their 120,000 "problem families", described by the Daily Star as "scum clans", who - according to the Department for Work and Pensions - cost the taxpayer £9 billion.

We probed George Galloway's claim that his expenses bill was "literally zero". We looked into whether the Government is taking more money from the disabled than it is raising from the banks. We investigated how many Olympic tickets were reserved for sponsors.

If you want to know how much revenue the 50p tax rate raised, we'll show you how you can find out. If you're interested to learn why Clause 163, Section 1, Part 2A of the Health and Social Care Act is so controversial, look no further. 

Thank you for supporting Full Fact in 2012; we'll be back in 2013. If you liked our work this year, you can donate here. In the meantime, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! 

The Full Fact team - Will, Phoebe, Federica, Joe, Owen, Jenna and Emily

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