Full Fact

Did small boat crossings go “up and up” while Robert Jenrick was immigration minister? And what about this government’s record? We’ve fact checked two claims the Prime Minister made earlier this month about small boat crossings.

Tomorrow will see John Healey deliver his first Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. We’ll be covering the Budget live on our socials and our website, and also contributing to the Independent’s coverage—follow us for updates. #Budget2026

After a ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz, rumours that it was carrying valuable goods like iPhones began circulating. One video appears to show people collecting floating iPhone boxes. But it’s not real—it was made with AI. Here’s how we can tell 👇

As Downing Street hosted its first ‘Rough Sleeping Summit’ yesterday, a reminder that our Government Tracker is monitoring Andy Burnham’s pledge to “end rough sleeping in our country”. 👇

False claims that Henry Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, has recently been attacked in prison are circulating on social media again. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice described the claims as “completely false” and confirmed the attack didn’t happen.

We’ve updated our roundup of fact checks covering the protests in France to include more edited photos and AI-generated imagery we’ve seen circulating online.

Pink Panther has found himself at the centre of the French protests after imagery of a person dressed as him went viral. But the pictures and videos we found were actually AI-generated and there are visual clues they’re not real. Here’s how we know fullfact.org/world/pink-p...

Last month Andy Burnham announced plans to change the state pension triple lock mechanism and said that the government would legislate for this “during this Parliament”. We’re now tracking progress on this pledge via our Government Tracker 👇

After protests and violent incidents in France in recent days, we’re seeing lots of old and fake videos and images circulating online. Read our roundup to help you verify what’s real 👇

A video of ships filmed from a plane in Bangladesh is being shared with false claims it shows the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s how we geolocated the footage👇

Pensioner poverty has halved in the past 30 years, as the shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately claimed. But how much of this was down to the Conservatives? Almost all the fall she’s talking about happened under Labour.

Google has updated its SynthID Detector after a Full Fact investigation found the tool said apparently real images shared by politicians were “made or edited” with AI. It now says it’s ‘Unsure’ about the images. Our investigation 👇 fullfact.org/toolkit/goog...

At #PMQs earlier Andy Burnham said that yesterday Britain saw “unemployment down and improved labour market statistics”. See exactly what’s happened in our explainer with the latest figures.

Have you seen this image of an elderly French couple in their underwear being shared online with claims they were stripped and robbed during the recent riots in France? It’s AI and there are no official reports confirming the attack. fullfact.org/world/photo-...

You might have seen a video of Palestinian and Jordanian flags being flown from the top of the Eiffel Tower recently. But, this clip was generated with AI and there’s no evidence it shows a real event. Read our check here 👇

A dramatic image of protesters throwing fireworks and waving Palestinian flags outside the Eiffel Tower has been shared widely online. But it’s not real—it was made with AI. Read our fact check to find out how we can tell 👇

After Andy Burnham’s conference speech last month provided further detail on what the government’s proposed National Care Service will entail, we’ve updated our Government Tracker page monitoring progress on this pledge 👇

A video of police with shields and batons is being shared with captions suggesting it shows the recent student protests in France. But this video has been online since at least March 2023. fullfact.org/world/2023-v...

For 10 weeks, we asked five AI chatbots the same questions every day. None repeated the core misinformation they were tested on, but they reported proposals as law, quoted outdated figures and gave different answers on different days. Our first report: fullfact.org/ai-benchmark...

A video of a woman being dragged away by uniformed men has been shared with the false claim that it shows forced military conscription in Ukraine. This isn’t the case—the clip actually shows a scene from an environmental protest in Kyiv. This is how we know 👇 fullfact.org/conflict/vid...

A compilation video claiming to show clips of President Zelenskyy belly dancing has been shared online again and includes AI deepfakes.

A dramatic video of an aeroplane being hit by a missile and exploding has been widely shared online with claims it shows a recent attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But the video isn’t real. It was made with AI. fullfact.org/conflict/ai-...

A fake image supposedly showing a tiger attack at Yorkshire Wildlife Park is circulating online. A man died as a result of the incident, and police asked people not to share footage of the attack - but this image isn’t real and was made with AI.

Home Office minister Jo White claimed yesterday that the number of hotels housing asylum seekers “has fallen from 400 when we came into power to fewer than 160.” That’s not correct. The number of hotels in use when Labour took office was 213.

Labour MP Oliver Ryan claimed on X that there were “0” small boat crossings before Brexit. This isn’t true. There’s plenty of evidence of small boat crossings both before the referendum and before the UK actually left the EU.

Videos shared with claims they show the Riyadh airport attacks are spreading online. Although there’s lots of genuine footage, one clip is AI-generated and another is an old video filmed in Dubai airport. Check before you share 👇

A viral clip is an edited version of a real Barack Obama speech to make it look like he said ordinary people “are too small-minded to govern their own affairs”. He was actually speaking about an alternative vision of power threatening democratic ideals.

In Parliament yesterday work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden twice claimed the current employment rate is higher than in every year but one under the Conservatives. That’s not correct, according to ONS data. Our fact check has the figures.

Another day, another deepfake. This time it's Bill Gates who appears to warn that a billion people will die due to water shortages. The clip was edited using AI to make it look like Mr Gates discussed water shortages during a CNBC interview when he didn’t.

A video of a funeral procession scattering with the ‘corpse’ running away is circulating again with suggestions it shows Gaza. But the video has been online since March 2020 and was reportedly filmed in Jordan.

An old video of a market fire in the UAE has been shared online with false claims it shows a “major strike” on an oil facility in Israel. fullfact.org/conflict/202...

We’ve seen posts claiming to show footage of passengers clapping to music in the cabin after the reported attack on the Flydubai plane. But the clip is over a year old and is unrelated to the recent incident. Read more below.

A video has been shared online showing the Australian Prime Minister collapsing face-first off of a platform. But the clip has been generated with AI and appears to have originated from a parody account. Read our fact check here 👇 fullfact.org/world/video-...

Kemi Badenoch’s new booklet ‘The Right Way’ claims Labour extended the Energy Profits Levy to 2028 and 2029. But a Conservative government made the first of these extensions, and announced the second. (Labour’s since extended it again, to 2030.)

Posts on social media last week claimed an explosion in Rotherham in which a man died was linked to an attempted terror attack. But police say they’ve found no evidence of any crime, and counter terrorism police aren’t involved in the investigation.

A post shared thousands of times supposedly shows Elon Musk warning us that billions of people could die by 2030 due to water shortages. This is a deepfake made using AI to change what Mr Musk was saying in the original footage.

Yvette Cooper appeared to tell last week’s Labour conference that a “tax break for private healthcare” was Reform UK’s “only health policy” at the last election. That’s not true. The party’s manifesto outlined a number of health policies.

A video compilation shared on social media with claims it shows US strikes on 140 targets in Iran earlier this year includes miscaptioned clips which are actually from Gaza and Lebanon as well as multiple fake scenes.

A clip showing NATO soldiers has gone viral. Posts have suggested it is a new video released by NATO. This isn't the case—the video is from 2024. Our fact check below 👇

A video supposedly showing a BBC News report linking an Indian passenger to an attack on a Flydubai flight where a pilot was stabbed is a deepfake. Our fact check 👇 fullfact.org/world/flydub...

The government and Heidi Alexander claimed over 14.5m children used a free bus scheme this August. That’s not correct. In fact, over 14.5m *journeys* were made (by far fewer children). There are only about 7.5m children of the right age in England.