The claim
“The reason I think Turkey should be able to join the European Union is I think the European Union will be better off if we include a country like Turkey…
“I think they will be a good political influence for us because they can help us solve some of the world’s problems like the Middle East Peace process, like the fact that Iran has got a nuclear weapon.”
David Cameron at a public Q & A in Brighton, 5 August 2010
Cathy Newman writes:
There’s a difference between straight-talking and mis-speaking. The prime minister said quite plainly today that Iran had a nuclear weapon. But although analysts believe Iran is well on its way to developing a nuclear bomb, it hasn’t done so yet.
For the time being, the “nuclear club” – countries with nuclear warheads – consists of the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and, it’s thought, Israel.
All a bit embarrassing for David Cameron, particularly as he’s only just got over the embarrassment of offending Pakistan, when he accused it of exporting terror.
Labour says he’s becoming a “foreign policy klutz”.
Downing Street ‘fessed up, saying he’d meant to say that Iran appears to be trying to pursue a nuclear programme.
Sounds like a fiction rating to FactCheck.
The claim
“Someone else working in the immigration system said it’s mad that when people appeal against a visa decision, even though that appeal might cost £10,000, that appeal is entirely free – something else we can change.”
David Cameron at a public Q & A in Brighton, 5 August 2010
Cathy Newman writes:
David Cameron has issued a “spending challenge” to the public, asking them for ideas about how to save money in these austere times. The government’s had 67,000 responses so far.
One idea that’s tickled his fancy is to charge people who appeal a decision to reject their visa application. He claimed it can cost £10,000 to handle such an appeal.
But a spokesman for the Tribunals Service, part of the Ministry of Justice, cast doubt on such a figure.
He said it cost the public purse £114m to deal with 197,500 cases. By my calculation that works out at an average of £577. Obviously that’s a crude back of the envelope figure, but officials are still hunting for the £10k appeal at time of writing.
The spokesman added: “The Tribunals Service already charges fees for some appeals and is now considering this policy for appeals against refused visa applications. Any proposals will be subject to public consultation.”
