Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer's BBC debate claims fact-checked

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have taken questions from a BBC viewers of their ultimate head-to-head debate earlier than polling day.

They traded claims on immigration, tax and web zero insurance policies. BBC Confirm has been inspecting their claims.

Rishi Sunak mentioned beneath a future Labour authorities “the state pension can be topic to a retirement tax”.

Pensioners relying solely on the state pension are on track to doubtlessly pay a small quantity of earnings tax in 2027-28, as a result of the state pension in that yr (£12,578) is forecast to marginally overtake the tax-free private allowance (£12,570).

The Conservative triple lock plus coverage – which raises the non-public allowance for pensioners to £13,710 by 2027-28 – would take away that danger.

Labour hasn’t mentioned but whether or not they would match it or not. However observe, the Conservatives solely unveiled the coverage inside the final couple of weeks, so to current this as a deliberate Labour tax rise is a bit disingenuous.

And keep in mind that the Conservatives’ triple lock plus would solely save somebody residing solely on the state pension round £29 a yr.

Moreover, some persons are already paying tax on a part of their state pension.

Evaluation by former Lib Dem pensions minister Steve Webb, who works for an actuary agency, additionally means that round 2.5m pensioners (one in 5 of the entire) are at the moment paying earnings tax on their state pension and would nonetheless be even when the triple lock plus had been launched.

That is as a result of many individuals obtain further state pension funds because of their participation within the State Earnings Associated Pension Scheme (SERPS).

By Ben Chu

Keir Starmer mentioned: “Since Rishi Sunak turned prime minister 50,000 folks have come throughout by small boats.”

He’s proper about that.

The House Workplace publishes figures – going again to 2018 – for folks detected crossing the English Channel in small boats. The precise quantity detected since Rishi Sunak turned prime minister on 25 October 2022 is 50,108.

The very best determine recorded in a single yr was in 2022, when 45,755 arrived this manner.

Final yr, 29,437 folks had been detected arriving in small boats – down a 3rd on the yr earlier than.

Within the final 12 calendar months, 31,204 folks have been detected crossing, which is down 30% on the earlier 12 months.

Nevertheless, up to now this yr 13,045 have been detected, which is up about 16% from the identical interval final yr and is a file.

By Anthony Reuben

Rishi Sunak mentioned: “We have simply discovered a recording that they’ve put on the market from the deputy chancellor from the Labour Celebration admitting that their plans will value lots of of billions of kilos.”

The prime minister was making a reference to a Daily Telegraph story about Darren Jones, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, who was quoted as saying Labour’s web zero plans would value “lots of of billions” of kilos.

However this determine is in line with existing estimates for reaching web zero greenhouse fuel emissions by 2050, which is enshrined in legislation and likewise Conservative coverage.

The UK’s unbiased Workplace of Price range Duty (OBR) reported back in 2021 that reaching web zero by 2050 would require round £1.3 trillion of funding.

However the OBR additionally mentioned that this is able to convey financial savings of round £1 trillion from shifting away from fossil fuels – which means a a lot decrease web value.

The majority of the funding prices are anticipated to be met by the personal sector fairly than direct authorities spending. Within the audio clip printed by the Telegraph, Jones didn’t specify direct authorities spending.

By Mark Poynting

Keir Starmer referred to Labour’s manifesto as “absolutely funded, absolutely costed”.

However in its evaluation of manifestos earlier within the week, unbiased suppose tank the Institute for Fiscal Research (IFS) mentioned that it was suspicious of claims that they had been absolutely funded, notably on guarantees to cut back NHS ready instances.

“You may’t pledge to finish all waits of greater than 18 weeks, allocate no cash to that pledge, after which declare to have a totally costed manifesto,” IFS director Paul Johnson mentioned.

He additionally mentioned that the Conservatives’ commitments to the NHS “are basically unfunded”.

By Anthony Reuben

Rishi Sunak requested “are you able to afford to pay at the least £2,000 extra in tax?”, claiming that’s what folks could be requested to do by a Labour authorities.

The determine dangers deceptive folks, not least as a result of it consists of £500 a yr additional for 4 years. That isn’t what you’ll usually consider if any person mentioned your taxes had been going up by £2,000.

The Tories reached the determine by including up how a lot they declare Labour’s spending plans would value – £38.5bn over 4 years – and dividing this by the variety of UK households with at the least one particular person working. Labour disputes the determine.

The Conservatives say the costings had been labored out by neutral civil servants, however some are primarily based on assumptions made by politically appointed particular advisers.

For instance, one costing seems at Labour’s plan to have extra providers offered by the state as an alternative of by personal firms and it assumes that personal firms are at all times 7.5% extra environment friendly. However the civil servants doing the costings warned about the usage of that determine. Learn extra here.

By Anthony Reuben

Keir Starmer mentioned the Conservatives are planning “unfunded tax cuts”, including that ex-prime minister Liz Truss had tried that experiment. He mentioned “persons are nonetheless paying the worth” they usually had been “paying lots of of kilos extra due to the harm achieved to the financial system”.

It’s true that there was a spike in mortgage charges after the mini-budget – which included unfunded tax cuts, throughout Truss’s short-lived premiership.

However mortgage charges had been rising earlier than the mini-budget, because the Financial institution of England put up rates of interest to battle inflation, which started rising after the pandemic and the battle in Ukraine. The spike pale away early in 2023.

The Financial institution of England governor mentioned final January that the impact of the mini-budget had “just about gone” from rates of interest.

However anybody who did take out a fixed-rate mortgage shortly after it could have signed as much as the next rate of interest than they in any other case would have.

By Ben King