Videos claiming that a new law will require digital ID for purchases above £20, and could see fines for repeated cash payments, are false. There is no evidence of any such policies being introduced.

Videos on Facebook claim a new law bans music being played in moving cars. As you may have guessed, this isn’t true. It appears to be yet another example of the fake stories about personal freedoms we’ve seen all over social media lately.

A video which has been shared thousands of times on social media appears to show a British soldier confronting a police officer over “arresting people for words”. But the clip is fake and has been created with AI.

We’ve seen claims online that asylum seekers are being given Freedom Passes for free London travel. They may be eligible if they meet location, age or disability criteria which apply to all Londoners. There’s no special provision for asylum seekers.

A video of people waving Palestinian flags has been shared with claims it shows a ‘celebration’ in Manchester after the Bondi Beach attack. But the clip was first posted online six months before the attack happened. fullfact.org/world/manche...

An image of a planning notice detailing a new application to house up to 800 asylum seekers in Greater Manchester has been circulating online. But the planning notice is fake, and Stockport Council has confirmed no such application has been submitted.

Social media posts claim 2.4m households have cancelled the BBC licence fee since 2020. We’ve found no evidence to support this figure, which the BBC doesn’t recognise. The number of licences in force fell by around 1.5m between 2020/21 and 2024/25.

2025 was the year AI turbocharged online misinformation, while Reform UK vs Labour is becoming a key battleground for political claims. But what else have our fact checkers learned in the last 12 months - and what lessons will we be taking into 2026?

A new wave of fake stories about curbs on personal freedoms and bogus taxes has had millions of views on social media. In the three months since we first wrote about this trend, we’ve fact checked a further 45 claims. Our new investigation 👇

Claims David Lammy racked up half a million pounds of food and drink expenses as foreign secretary have been circulating again online. But as we’ve explained before, this figure relates to the Foreign Office’s entire departmental expenses - not his personal spending.

A video which has been shared thousands of times on social media appears to show a British soldier confronting a police officer over “arresting people for words”. But the clip is fake and has been created with AI.

After contact from Full Fact, the Times has corrected a headline that wrongly claimed analysis found that “migrants’ partners” cost Britain £5.6 billion over their lifetime. Here’s why that isn’t quite right 👇

Labour MP Oliver Ryan said on Monday that resident doctors got a 29% pay rise “last year”. But the 29% figure for doctors in England actually represents the combined effect of several pay rises over three years, including the current one.

The BMA claims resident doctors’ pay is worth 21% less than in 2008/9. But this is based on some questionable assumptions. Our independently verified analysis, using a different inflation measure backed by the Royal Statistical Society, suggests the fall’s more like 6-7%.

An image of a man being made-up with fake blood has been shared with claims it shows a ‘crisis actor’ at the Bondi Beach shooting. But this picture is AI and not real. Arsen Ostrovsky was treated in hospital for his genuine injuries from the attack.

New figures published yesterday show unemployment is continuing to increase. Our updated explainer looks at how things have changed during Labour’s time in government so far.

The Prime Minister Keir Starmer was challenged at #PMQs about the resident doctors strike, which began today. Read our up-to-date explainer on what these doctors are paid - and why they are striking.

At #PMQs Kemi Badenoch twice claimed unemployment has gone up “every single month” under Labour. Unemployment has risen overall but this isn’t quite right, as we wrote earlier this year 👇

A man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the Bondi Beach suspects has been misidentified in posts circulating online. The posts falsely claim that he’s named ‘Edward Crabtree’ - when his identity has been confirmed as Ahmed al Ahmed.

The BMA confirmed today a five-day strike will go ahead from Wednesday. Read our article about resident doctors’ pay to find out what they earn right now, and what the doctors’ union is asking for.

At this afternoon’s Liaison Committee the PM, Keir Starmer, was asked about our fact check of his claim last week that the number of teachers has increased under Labour. Read our verdict here: fullfact.org/education/pm...

Videos claiming that Sadiq Khan cancelled the King’s ‘garden bridge ceremony’, leading to a political row and protests have been viewed widely on Facebook. But these are completely false. There was no such event, and it was never scrapped.

Earlier this week Kemi Badenoch criticised the government’s use of relative low income as a measure of poverty. Our recently updated child poverty explainer looks at the various ways in which the scale of poverty can be measured.

CEO Chris Morris joins @politico.eu's Westminster Insider podcast to unpack narratives, lies, and the blurry boundaries of political spin. 🎧 Give it a listen:

With new figures today estimating the UK’s GDP shrank by 0.1% in October, a reminder our Government Tracker is monitoring progress on Labour’s pledge to have the “highest sustained growth in the G7”. We’re still rating this as ‘appears off track’ 👇

A post shared on Facebook claims 110,000 Brits aged 16-34 have left the country “since June this year”. That’s not what the latest figures show.

At #PMQs yesterday Keir Starmer claimed the number of teachers has gone up under Labour, but the Conservatives claimed it’s actually gone down. Who’s right? We’ve taken a look at the figures. 🔍

Videos viewed hundreds of thousands of times online claim that from 2 January 2026, a new £90 deduction, called the “Debt Recovery Contribution”, will appear automatically on people’s payslips. But this isn’t true.

In its 2025 Budget the government said English councils can unlock more funding to fix potholes if they publish clear annual progress reports. We’re monitoring Labour’s promise to fix an additional one million potholes a year in our Government Tracker 👇

Media literacy is vital for our democracy. 🗳️ Today we joined a group of more than 30 experts urging the government to back curriculum reform with proper funding for schools and librarians. Read our joint statement:

Videos claiming that the government is introducing a £500 “Christmas Decoration Tax” are being shared online. As you may have guessed, this isn’t true.

On Radio 4’s Any Questions? last week, Conservative MP Graham Stuart claimed employment has gone down and unemployment has gone up “every single month” under Labour. That’s not quite right according to ONS data on the number and rate of people who are employed and unemployed. (1/2)

⏳ Less than 24 hours left to double your impact ⏳ Your chance to support fact checking ends soon! Donate now: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Videos on social media are claiming Heathrow and Gatwick are introducing a new £50 entry fee. But we’ve found no evidence of this being announced, and Gatwick Airport has said it’s not aware of any such charge being introduced.

A viral video compilation claiming to show Israeli missiles hitting Iranian bases includes three faked clips, which were probably made using artificial intelligence. Read our fact check to find out more 👇

Estimated net migration was 204,000 in the year ending June 2025, a decrease of nearly 69% on the year before. As a result, our Government Tracker is now rating Labour’s promise to “reduce net migration” as ‘appears on track’ 👇 fullfact.org/government-t...

New figures published last week showed estimated net migration fell by almost 70% in the year ending June 2025. Our recently updated explainer looks at how, and why migration patterns have changed in recent years.

What is it like to find a fake video of yourself promoting supplements on TikTok? A Full Fact investigation, published exclusively by @theguardian.com, reveals how wellness products are being endorsed on social media by fake AI versions of real experts. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge so far! 🙏 We fight bad information and work to give millions of people access to good information. You can help us continue our efforts by donating at:

The Department of Health and Social Care has finally published the full data on childhood obesity for 2024/25, following a Freedom of Information request we made. Once again, it shows that thousands of children who are not clinically obese are being included in these figures. 🧵(1/3)

Was there a ‘black hole’ in the public finances, and did the chancellor mislead the public ahead of the Budget? We look at the facts.

At #PMQs Conservative MP George Freeman said he’d been the target of a deepfake falsely announcing he was joining Reform UK. We wrote about that video here 👇

At #PMQs Kemi Badenoch said “unemployment is up” under Labour. ONS data does show unemployment has increased. Our explainer examines the latest figures:

We’ve updated our asylum backlog explainer with the latest figures for Q3 2025. They show that the number of cases waiting for an initial decision has fallen by 28% since Labour took office.

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is now live. Anything you give from now until 9th December will be doubled 🫶 Make sure your donation has double the impact: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Social media videos claiming that UK residents over the age of 60 can get a free lifetime exemption from paying the TV licence are false.

Videos with thousands of shares on social media claim that people’s savings over £5,000 could be redirected into a national debt repayment fund from January 2026. But the Treasury confirmed this isn’t true.

Viral social media posts have made a number of claims about how pension contributions are saved and spent. But their sums are wrong, and they misunderstand how the state pension works.

There is no plan to charge people £300 if they use too much electricity after 9pm. Don’t believe the fake news reports on Facebook saying otherwise.

The UK Supreme Court has not ordered a new general election, as a widely viewed Facebook video has been claiming.