Prime Minister’s Questions fact checked: 4 September 2024
We’ve examined claims from this week’s PMQs about the state of the public finances, support for pensioners, economic growth and more. Read
Fact checks
Nasim Asl
Senior Political Journalist
Nasim joined Full Fact in June 2023. Before that she worked on BBC Question Time, and BBC Scotland News. She took part in the BBC’s Journalism Trainee Scheme, and has a masters degree in journalism.
No, ‘illegal immigrants’ don’t receive more benefits than pensioners
Incorrect claims about the amount of benefits received by pensioners and refugees have been circulating for years. Read
Fact checks
9.4 million people are classed as economically inactive, not unemployed
A post on Threads claims 9.4 million people in Britain are unemployed, but technically this is the number in the UK who are ‘economically inactive’, not the number who are actively looking for work. Read
Fact checks
Former prime ministers do not get a £115,000 special ‘pension for life’
But ex-PMs can claim up to £115,000 a year for expenses incurred during their public duties in their capacity as a former prime minister. Read
Fact checks
Economy, Business & Finance
Is Labour right to claim the public finances are worse than expected?
The chancellor Rachel Reeves said public finances are facing a shortfall of £21.9 billion this year alone. Read
Fact checks
Inflation was not over 10% last autumn
Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said in the House of Commons that inflation was over 10% last autumn, but seems to have got the year wrong. Read
Fact checks
No evidence for Facebook quote attributed to politician Thérèse Coffey
An image falsely claiming Dr Coffey said it wasn’t her job to “worry about people starving to death” has been circulating since 2020. Read
Fact checks
We can’t say what proportion of Scots are on NHS waiting lists
Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats have claimed about a seventh of all Scots are waiting for treatment or tests. Read
Fact checks
Argos is not selling laptops or vacuum cleaners for just £1
Posts promoting supposed offers that seem too good to be true are very common on sites like Facebook. Read
Fact checks
Were 99.75% of people able to cast their vote when voter ID was first introduced?
A government spokesperson claimed this was the proportion who voted successfully in the 2023 local elections, but that isn’t quite what the Electoral Commission found. Read
Fact checks
