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A letter sent by Grant Shapps MP in 2020 (during his time as transport secretary) to London mayor Sadiq Khan has been shared widely on social media as evidence that the upcoming expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was imposed on Mr Khan as a condition of extraordinary government funding for Transport for London (TfL).
The ULEZ is an area in London where owners of vehicles which don’t match specific emissions standards must pay to drive. The zone currently covers all areas within the city’s North and South Circular Roads, but is set to be expanded to cover the entire Greater London area from 29 August 2023.
The letter (which was sent on 14 May 2020), sets out the terms of the first of three short-term funding packages from the government which were agreed to cover a shortfall in revenue for TfL during the Covid-19 pandemic. It states that TfL agreed to “The immediate reintroduction of the London Congestion Charge, LEZ [Low Emission Zone] and ULEZ and urgently bring forward proposals to widen the scope and levels of these charges, in accordance with the relevant legal powers and decision-making processes.”
This paragraph has been shared widely on Facebook, alongside claims that the government and Mr Shapps “ordered” or “forced” Mr Khan to expand the ULEZ boundary as a condition for funding.
The Department for Transport has said that it did not impose the upcoming expansion of ULEZ to cover all of Greater London on the Mayor, and that the funding agreement set out in the May 2020 letter referred to the earlier potential plan to extend ULEZ up to the North and South Circular, which was later implemented in 2021. The letter has nothing to do with Mr Khan’s decision to proceed with the upcoming expansion.
A spokesperson for the Mayor similarly confirmed to Full Fact that the government did not specify any particular further expansion to the ULEZ in its 2020 funding letter.
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FACT CHECK
At Prime Minister’s questions last month Rishi Sunak said that A&E waiting times in England were the “best in two years”.
There are lots of different performance figures for accident and emergency departments in England, so it is not clear exactly what data Mr Sunak was referring to, and Downing Street has not responded to our request for comment.
But health experts have told Full Fact that Mr Sunak’s claim is “difficult to square” with the published data. This data shows that while there have been improvements in performance in recent months, June 2023 was not the best month in the last 24.
Ministers must provide evidence for what they say, and ensure that any statistics and data they rely on to back up their claims are provided publicly in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics or relevant guidance. The OSR also recommends that when data is quoted publicly it should be “published in an accessible form”.
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FACT CHECK
An article from MailOnline repeated claims in the researchers’ press release that a study shows that eating a later breakfast increased people’s risk of diabetes.
The MailOnline article says the study “suggested that eating breakfast after 9 am increased diabetes risk”, and goes on to say: “the Spanish and French researchers noted that those who opted for breakfast before 8 am reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 59 percent. What's more, eating a later dinner also appeared to increase the likelihood of the condition.”
But a study author confirmed with Full Fact that this isn’t what the scientific article said.
It actually looked at data on people’s health and eating habits and suggested an association between later average breakfast times and diabetes—but didn’t say that one was causing the other.
Mistaken reporting about research can lead to mistrust of science from the public, or lead to people making decisions based on incorrect information. It is important that research institutions don’t exaggerate their findings, and that media outlets correct errors once they are discovered.
We have contacted MailOnline about these issues but have not received a response at time of writing.
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Team Full Fact
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