It’s day one of Boris Johnson’s premiership. There are a few things already on our @FactCheck radar – as we launch our project to examine every public statement by the PM until the day we are due to leave the EU.
Today Boris Johnson promised “another 20,000 police on the streets”. As Mayor of London, he announced a recruitment drive for 5,000 officers in London – without mentioning that these would simply replace the staff lost through natural wastage. In fact, numbers of officers fell on his watch.
See the full FactCheck on Boris Johnson’s broken promises as Mayor of London here.
As we found a while ago, police numbers in England and Wales fell by 20,000 between 2010 and 2017. So today’s announcement may not be all that generous.
We’re going to see if there is an ongoing link between political donations and policy.
Boris Johnson pledged to “begin work now to create free ports” today. The Bristol Port Company – which could benefit from tax-free “free port” status, gave him £25,000 when he was running for Conservative Party leader.
Today Mr Johnson said we would have the “extra lubrication of the £39bn” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
But experts warn that holding back the “divorce settlement” agreed by Theresa May could be legally problematic and create a huge diplomatic row. We FactCheck-ed this back in January.
We’re going to need your help. Tweet to @FactCheck if you spot questionable claims or broken promises.