Economy

New businesses boomed faster than ever before last year, says David Cameron. Great news if true – so where’s the evidence?

Dr Liam Fox claims the global economy has doubled in the last 12 years. So why aren’t we holidaying on the moon, FactCheck asks?

Spain may be the latest European country heading for a massive bailout. That might mean Britain has to pay. FactCheck wonders how much.

Venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft advises the government to cut red tape and make it easier to fire workers to save the economy. FactCheck doesn’t think it’ll do much good.

There have been tears, laughter, and the odd stray F-word. The London mayoral race has been high on emotion and more than usually bad-tempered. Boris Johnson has been slightly more careful with his facts, choosing to deal in aspirations rather than promises. Ken Livingstone has made some extravagant claims which have landed him in hot water. Here’s the verdict from FactCheck HQ on a very irritable election.

Is it true that voters only side with Labour during the “good times” as Ed Miliband claims? FactCheck looks at the evidence.

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

“One would rather be French than British at the moment,” Baroin said. FactCheck knows the situation is bleak, but does Britain deserve the cold shoulder from France or should we issue them a Gallic shrug?

It’s very strange. Most politicians reckon that once bitten by FactCheck, twice shy. Not so the PM. We’ve caught him out on his boast on private sector jobs before but today he was at it again. He claimed half a million more private sector jobs were created since the election. He’s wrong, and here’s why.

Ed Balls doesn’t really do contrition. He flirted with the idea on the Today programme this morning when he said sorry for the failure of banking regulations, and admitted that not every pound had been well spent by Labour.

“It’s a sensitive topic for a Government that scrapped Education Maintenance Allowance for teenagers who wanted to stay in education, and axed Labour’s flagship back-to-work project, the Future Jobs Fund.”

Twenty leading economists have called on the government to scrap its 50p tax rate for high earners, warning that it will do “lasting damage” to the economy. Is the 50p tax rate worth it? FactCheck investigates

A few alarm bells went off in the Channel 4 newsroom yesterday when the Chancellor flagged up jobs growth as the silver lining to some rather gloomy GDP figures. Is growth in the public sector worth shouting about? FactCheck investigates.

The Government has promised to increase real-terms spending on the NHS. But experts say spending is already falling, and only a tinker with the figures can save the Coalition’s blushes.

David Cameron has signalled this week that he is taking the looming threat of Scottish independence seriously. With people on both sides of the border convinced they are losing out, what’s the real cost of holding the United Kingdom together?