We check facts about the UK economy. This includes money issues like prices, taxes, jobs, people out of work, and housing. We also look at how these things are different in each part of the UK.
Economy, Business & Finance
Maria Caulfield MP made a number of claims about how much nurse pay increases would cost during multiple media appearances. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
The shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed that Britain has “high unemployment” after 12 years of Conservative government. But by historic standards, the unemployment rate is currently very low. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
The figure used by Rod Liddle in a Sun column only describes the percentage of those who are already not working. The true proportion is more like one in 25. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
The government says it would cost £28 billion, or £1,000 per household, to increase public sector pay in line with inflation next year. But many of the current disputes are about this year’s pay. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
The 8% offer made to rail workers covers a two-year period, whereas the pay increase given to nurses and other NHS staff covers only 12 months. Read
Health
The health secretary said that a new nurse will typically earn over £31,000 a year on current pay. This is an estimate that includes extra earnings such as overtime. Basic pay for a new nurse is aroun Read
Health
A BBC news bulletin claimed a recent rise in the number of people who are neither working nor looking for work is “largely because of long Covid”. But there are reasons to believe much of the rise is Read
Economy, Business & Finance
A graph shown on the BBC News at Six contained, among other things, an inaccurate figure and a mislabelled axis. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
If council tax rises by 5%, it would cost households in an average band D property about £100 more per year—not per month. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
Michael Gove tweeted a graphic claiming the UK has signed new trade deals with more than 70 countries, worth over £800 billion in new global trade. But the majority of these mirror previous EU deals. Read
