96% of Labour claims are not fully true. 8 outright false. 9 misleading.
"We haven't raised taxes on working people"
Employer NI raised from 13.8% to 15% in Oct 2024 Budget (effective April 2025). Threshold lowered from £9,100 to £5,000. OBR estimates ~£24B/yr cost passed to workers via lower wages. Fiscal drag from frozen thresholds = stealth income tax rise.
"Small boat crossings are falling under our plan"
Channel crossings rose from 36,816 in 2024 to approximately 41,472 in 2025, a 13 per cent increase and the second-highest year on record. The claim was false at the date of utterance. Note: Q1 2026 crossings (4,441) are 33 per cent lower than Q1 2025 (6,642), so the trend has since reversed. See fact-check #24 for the more recent picture.
"We're getting Britain building. On track for 1.5M homes"
Net additional dwellings were ~209K in 2024-25 (6% decline). Needs 300K/yr to hit 1.5M by 2029. At current rate: ~1M by end of parliament. Planning reforms still in Lords.
"Public sector net borrowing is under control"
Borrowing reached £151.9B in 2024-25, £14.6B above OBR forecast. 10-year gilt yields hit 4.8% in September 2025. Highest in over a decade. Debt-to-GDP at 95.5% (Dec 2025). OBR headroom just £9.9B.
"Rough sleeping is being addressed"
Rough sleeping rose to a record 4,793 in the autumn 2025 snapshot (up 3% from 4,667 in 2024, and up 23% from 3,898 in 2023). Homelessness applications at record highs.
"Asylum claims are being processed within 6 months"
Home Office Immigration Statistics for year ending 2025: the initial-decision asylum backlog stood at 48,723 — the smallest since 2020. Around 57 per cent of new claims received in H1 2025 were decided within six months, an improvement on the prior period. The appeals backlog, however, more than doubled to approximately 80,000 by end-2025. The "6 months" headline applies only to initial decisions and only to recent claims; the overall journey time including appeals is longer.
"Violence against women and girls is being halved"
CPS rape prosecutions up 34% (2,572 charged in 2023-24), but conviction rate still only ~2.1% of reported rapes. ONS Crime Survey found no statistically significant change in domestic abuse prevalence. Halving target remains far off.
"We're winning the argument across the country"
Electoral Calculus April 2026 MRP put Labour on around 86 seats (17 per cent vote share) and Reform UK on 188 seats (24 per cent). On 26 February 2026 Labour came third in the Gorton & Denton by-election (Greens 40.7 per cent, Reform second, Labour third). The "winning argument across the country" claim is not supported by the polling or by-election evidence at the date of utterance.
"Great British Energy will cut energy bills"
GB Energy Bill passed and HQ established in Aberdeen. But it has no generating capacity, no retail function, and no mechanism to directly cut household bills. It's an investment vehicle, not an energy supplier.
"13,000 more neighbourhood police are being recruited"
At the date of the claim (September 2025), total police FTE in England and Wales had fallen by around 1,300 to 146,442 in the year to March 2025 — the first decline since 2018. However, the manifesto pledge was specifically for 13,000 additional neighbourhood police and PCSOs over the Parliament, not total police FTE. The Neighbourhood Policing Programme management information shows the first-year target of 2,972 additional FTE was met in January 2026 and reached 3,123 by February 2026. The "13,000 more" claim was therefore on track at the date of utterance for the manifesto measure as written, even though total workforce was down.
"The economy is growing faster than forecast"
ONS quarterly national accounts revised UK 2025 full-year GDP to 1.4 per cent (up from 1.3 per cent initial estimate). Middle of the G7 (US ~2.0 per cent, Canada ~1.8 per cent, UK 1.4 per cent, Japan ~1.2 per cent). The OBR baseline has moved over time: the October 2024 forecast for 2026 was 1.4 per cent; by the Spring 2026 forecast this was downgraded to 1.1 per cent. Quarterly growth slowed to 0.1 per cent in Q3 and Q4 2025.
"Clean power by 2030 is achievable"
The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan was published in December 2024. NESO's independent assessment described the 2030 target as "achievable but challenging". Clean sources made up 63.7 per cent of UK electricity generation in 2025 (Climate Change Committee 2025 progress report). The CCC has warned that the pace of grid connection and renewable build-out remains a binding constraint on the timetable. The claim that the target is "achievable" is defensible; the claim that current progress is sufficient is not.
"Winter Fuel Payment is still available for those who need it"
WFP was means-tested for winter 2024/25. 10M pensioners lost the payment. But it was restored for ALL pensioners from winter 2025/26 (with tax recovery for earners over £35K). The initial cut caused significant hardship. Pension Credit take-up remains just 63%.
"We've strengthened workers' rights from day one"
The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Implementation is phased through 2026 and 2027. The qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims reduces from two years to six months from 1 January 2027, not "day one". Other provisions (guaranteed-hours rights, fire-and-rehire restrictions) commence from April 2026. "Strengthened workers' rights from day one" is misleading both as to the substantive day-one threshold (which is six months, not zero) and as to the timetable (which runs to 2027).
"We're making the UK the fastest-growing G7 economy"
UK GDP grew 1.3% in 2025. Middle of the G7 pack (US ~2.0%, Canada ~1.8%, UK 1.3%, Japan ~1.2%, France ~0.7%, Italy ~0.6%, Germany ~0%). Not fastest-growing. IMF downgraded 2026 forecast.
"Lord Mandelson's appointment as US Ambassador was properly vetted"
The BBC, the Guardian, and the Times reported in Feb 2026 that Lord Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office (23 Feb 2026) following further public-domain releases relating to his historic connections to Jeffrey Epstein. The Prime Minister subsequently issued a public apology to Epstein victims and Morgan McSweeney resigned as chief of staff. Whether the original vetting process was adequate is a matter the Prime Minister has not addressed on the record; on the public evidence the claim that vetting was "properly" conducted is at best misleading.
"Labour Together operates transparently"
Reporting in 2024-25 (Novara Media, Guardian) documented that Labour Together commissioned a PR firm whose work included briefings critical of journalists, and that Labour Together had not declared £730K in donations spanning 2017-2020. The Electoral Commission acted on the donation-declaration finding. Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons resigned in 2025 following these reports. "Operates transparently" is not consistent with the documented record.
"We've cut NHS waiting lists"
NHS England announced in May 2026 that the 18-week RTT (referral-to-treatment) standard had been reached for the first time in years, with the waiting list down to 7.11 million in March 2026. The 65 per cent interim target was met (62.6 per cent against the 92 per cent ultimate standard). A&E performance remains weak (Nuffield Trust's Type 1 major A&E measure was around 57 per cent in January 2026 versus the 95 per cent constitutional standard). "Cut" describes the direction but the gap to the original promise is large.
"We removed the two-child benefit cap review"
The two-child cap was scrapped from 6 April 2026, after Starmer initially refused to commit. The delay meant child poverty hit a record 4.5M (31%) in 2023-24 before the policy changed. Worth ~£3,650/yr per additional child. 450K fewer children projected in poverty.
"VAT on private schools will fund 6,500 teachers"
20% VAT on private school fees from Jan 2025 (implemented). But teacher recruitment targets missed again. Revenue lower than expected as 10K+ pupils moved to state sector. Net effect on teacher numbers unclear.
"Rail nationalisation is delivering better services"
Under the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 (Royal Assent 28 November 2024), Labour has brought four passenger operators into public ownership in 2025-26: South Western Railway (May 2025), c2c (July 2025), Greater Anglia (October 2025) and West Midlands Trains (February 2026), with GTR / Thameslink scheduled for May 2026. The remaining DfT-contracted operators are scheduled to return to public ownership by October 2027. Note: LNER (2018) and Northern (2020) had been brought into the Operator of Last Resort under the previous Conservative government and pre-date Labour's 2024 programme.
"Defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP"
PM committed to 2.5% GDP on defence by 2027 (Feb 2025). SDR published June 2025 with funded pathway: £62.2B in 2025/26 rising to £73.5B in 2028/29. Defence+UKIC at 2.6% by 2027. Currently at 2.31%. Progress real but delayed from original manifesto timeline.
"Channel crossings are falling in 2026"
Q1 2026 saw 4,441 crossings. Down 33% vs Q1 2025 (6,642). March 2026 was down 50% year-on-year. However, this follows 2025's ~41,472 (second-highest on record after 2022's 45,774).
"The triple lock on pensions is protected"
State pension rose 4.8% in April 2026 under the triple lock. New full state pension now £241.30/week (up ~£11/week). Triple lock commitment honoured.