FactCheck

The biggest political porkies of 2011: Channel 4 News’ FactCheck team run through the dodgiest politics claims of the year.

MPs insist the neediest will still get free or subsidised legal help, but that the £2bn spent annually on legal aid has got to be cut. Will civil cases receive the legal aid they need and deserve? FactCheck investigates.

FactCheck Q&A on the new deal for public sector pensions – is it any good; who are the winners and losers?

David Cameron has vowed to pull “Britain’s underclass” back from the brink after this summer’s riots, pledging £448m to help local authorities turn around the lives of 120,000 of the country’s most troubled families. But here’s the catch – the £448m is only 40 per cent of the money that the government estimates local authorities need.

Mr Miliband reminded MPs of the Chancellor’s optimistic assessment at the time of the spending review in November last year. George Osborne said at the time that private sector job creation would “far outweigh” cuts in public sector employment. But have those high hopes – based on forecasts from the independent Office of Budget Responsibility, been dashed?

“An EU-wide Robin Hood Tax – which John Major called a “heat-seeking missile” pointed at the heart of the Square Mile (surely it should have been an arrow?) – does now appear to have stalled on the launchpad.”

After David Cameron’s dramatic decision to veto an EU-wide agreement on greater fiscal union for the eurozone countries, it now looks likely that all 26 other European Union (EU) members will try to hammer out a new deal without the UK. But the question still remains, how on earth will it work?

As David Cameron slugged away on a deal to save the eurozone, David Davis hit the airwaves to insist that the PM should put his foot down should any seperate deal be tabled by the 17 euro members. All Cameron has to do is “point out the legalities”, Davis said, adding that the idea of a plan that didn’t include all 27 members was “not feasible”. Is he right or could the 17 go it alone?

As wages are cut in real terms and the cost of living soars, Britons are turning to payday loans who hand out instant cash for often exorbitant rates of interest. The number of people taking out these so-called ‘payday’ loans quadrupled between 2008 and 2010, to 1.2 million. Are they the cheapest option?

The claim “Is the Prime Minister aware that in the last financial year, taxpayers paid over £113 million to trade unions in terms of paid staff time and direct grants?” Laurence Robertson, 30 November 2011 “I think the idea of full-time trade unionists, working in the public sector on trade union business rather than serving…

To hear Labour speak, you’d think there was a veritable stampede of women desperate to escape the clutches of David Cameron in exchange for the warm embrace of Ed Miliband. But are they right? FactCheck speaks to pollsters and asks Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts what women really want.

All the mud-slinging between the unions and the government tends to obliterate the facts. The unions are striking over government plans to make them pay more into their pensions. But beyond that simple statement of fact, there’s a lot of murk, claim and counter-claim. The unions say the changes to the pensions will make them worse off. Ministers say on the contrary, an improved deal on the table would leave many low and middle income earners better off. What’s the truth?

“The Labour leader is perfectly right that the vast majority of potential losers are women – something that could give the Prime Minister a sleepless night as he struggles to woo female voters.”

In their 2010 manifesto the Tories say: “We will legislate in the first session of a new parliament to lock in this level of spending for every year from 2013.” Clearly, no such legislation has been forthcoming.