Letters and submissions

Read our latest submissions to consultations and letters to politicians and decision makers.

 

  • November 2024: Fact checkers such as Full Fact are on the frontline in the battle against the spread of misinformation circulating on internet platforms. But we could be far more effective if we were provided with better information from platforms to help guide us more easily to the most harmful claims being made, so that our fact checks address the most essential  content. At the moment the access to such data across the major platforms is patchy at best.

    In a positive move, the Government is proposing to increase access to data for researchers, via the Data (Use and Access Bill). While this is a welcome step forward, Full Fact is concerned that the proposed access may not extend to the kind of misinformation we deal with on a day-to-day basis. The Bill is currently in the House of Lords, and we prepared this briefing for Peers in advance of second reading on 19 November. We were pleased to note that our concerns were raised during the debate, and we hope that Government acts on these concerns, to ensure that fact checkers are enabled to do their job more effectively in future.
  • October 2024: Full Fact wrote to Rachel Reeves MP, the Chancellor, to set out how Treasury ministers and officials could work with Full Fact from the Budget onwards to urgently rebuild public trust.
  • August 2024: Full Fact wrote to Bridget Phillipson MP, the Education Secretary, to welcome her announcement that critical thinking will be a key element of the upcoming curriculum review.
  • July 2024: On 5 July, Sir Keir Starmer was appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Shortly after his speech outside of Number 10, Full Fact wrote to him, congratulating him on his new role and calling on him to be true to his word to restore trust in politics.
  • October 2023: Full Fact wrote to the Prime Minister and the Chair of the Conservative Party regarding their repetition of a misleading claim about the Labour Party
  • January 2023: Following Andrew Bridgen’s suspension as a Conservative MP, Full Fact wrote to Nadhim Zahawi MP, Chair of the Conservative Party, to highlight the full extent of the Covid-19 vaccine misinformation that Mr Bridgen has spread, and to ask whether the Conservative Party intends to endorse an MP who behaves like this at the next election.
  • December 2022: Full Fact requested a correction from Priti Patel MP in relation to a false claim she made about the percentage of Albanian small boat arrivals over the summer.
  • September 2022: Full Fact requested a correction from Liz Truss MP in relation to an incorrect claim she repeatedly made about the amount households will pay on their energy bills, under the new energy support package.
  • February 2022: Full Fact requested a correction from Boris Johnson MP in relation to an incorrect claim he repeatedly made about the number of people in employment.
  • February 2022: Full Fact submitted evidence to the Committee on Standards Consultation on the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament.
  • September 2021: Full Fact submitted evidence to the pre-legislative scrutiny Draft Online Safety Bill Joint Committee.
  • August 2021: Full Fact submitted evidence to the DCMS Sub-Committee on Online Harms and Disinformation on its inquiry on the Government’s approach to tackling harmful online content, outlined in its draft Online Safety Bill.
  • August 2021: Full Fact submitted evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Elections Bill inquiry
  • February 2021: Full Fact submitted evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on online harms and the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic
  • January 2021: Full Fact submitted evidence to the Law Commission consultation on proposed changes to communications offences
  • January 2021: Full Fact submitted evidence to the Committee For Standards in Public Life
  • October 2020: Full Fact submitted evidence to the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Chief executive Will Moy was invited to give oral evidence to the committee in a session that took place on 24 November
  • September 2020: Full Fact submitted evidence to Labour’s consulation Our Digital Future
  • September 2020: Full Fact submitted evidence to the European Commission’s consultation on the Digtial Services Act
  • July 2020: Full Fact raised concerns about the way in which statistics about coronavirus testing are being presented and communicated to the public, in a letter to the Office for Statistics Regulation
  • June 2020: Full Fact submitted evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee’s inquiry into preparedness for Covid-19 (coronavirus)
  • May 2020: Full Fact submitted evidence to the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee’s inquiry on the future of journalism
  • April 2020: Full Fact submitted evidence to the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s online harms and disinformation inquiry
  • October 2019: Full Fact submitted evidence to the House of Lords Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee
  • September 2019: Full Fact wrote to MPs and peers warning that the government must urgently update election laws to tackle the threat of interference and disinformation campaigns.
  • August 2019: Full Fact wrote to the Head of the Government Communications Service, asking for a public explanation of the governance of the planned £100m public information campaign on preparing for a no-deal Brexit
  • July 2019: Full Fact responded to the government’s Online Harms White Paper consultation
  • July 2019: Full Fact and 11 other organisations published a joint letter to the Secretary of State about the National Data Strategy consultation, asking for urgent action in seven key areas. We received a response on 20 August.
  • July 2019: Our evidence was quoted in the report of the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Governance of Official Statistics
  • March 2019: Chief Executive Will Moy gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Governance of Official Statistics