Emma Thelwell

The claim “Hospital waiting times have risen month on month under this government” Ed Miliband MP, Prime Minister’s Questions, April 27, 2011

The claim “The change to AV will cost up to an additional £250 million” – No to AV

FactCheck’s Twitter followers asked us for a round-up of the biggest claims made by the Yes to AV and No to AV camps. With the referendum on May 5th, many said there are still too many smoke and mirror tactics to make an informed decision.

The claim “These appointments would create an even bigger majority for the Coalition in the Lords and risk reducing its role to a mere rubber stamp for the House of Commons.” Ed Miliband MP, in a letter to David Cameron, November 19, 2010

The claim “Filling a hole of half a billion pounds by cutting university places could mean over 30,000 fewer young people going to university.”

The claim “BNP say no because they know AV will hurt them.” – Yes to Fairer Votes, April 13, 2011 The background The No to AV campaign argues that extremists such as the British National Party, the National Front and the British Union of Fascists would flourish under an AV voting system.

The claim “If you look at Oxford and Cambridge – the percentage of pupils from state schools going to those universities has actually gone down over the last 20 years…Only one black person went to Oxford last year. I think that’s disgraceful.” David Cameron MP, April 11, 2011

The claim “We want to make changes only if they improve the Coastguard support that people in fishing communities and elsewhere get.” David Cameron MP, Prime Ministers’ Questions, March 30, 2011

The claim “Yes university fees will go up, but repayments will go down. Every single graduate will pay less than they did under Labour.” Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions, April 5, 2011

The claim “What they are proposing is…commissioning, not simply being done by an accountable organisation, but potentially being done by the private sector. And I think that is a very, very dangerous situation.” Ed Miliband MP, Q&A session following a speech on NHS reform, April 4, 2011

FactCheck has come across many a spurious claim, and we pity the fools out there. But are we one of them? Here’s our pick of today’s April Fools.

The claim “It is the Office For (Fair) Access that will decide whether or not they can go to that £9,000 threshold and very tough rules have been published and placed in this house for people to see” David Cameron MP, Prime Minister’s Questions, March 30 2011

The claim “£180m will be available for this bursary fund – enough to ensure that every child eligible for free school meals who chooses to stay on could be paid £800 per year – more than many receive under the current EMA arrangements”. Michael Gove MP, Education Secretary, announcing the replacement EMA scheme in the House of Commons, March 28, 2011

The claim “Let me at this point deal with some of the anti-AV myths that have been spread by those opposed to change: – That it leads to more coalitions…there is no evidence that AV results in more coalitions – That AV is complicated – That a yes vote will be seen as a vindication of Nick Clegg Ed Miliband, Labour Leader, speech to the Labour Yes to AV campaign, March 16, 2011

When Ed Miliband challenged David Cameron over the NHS and EU competition policy in the Commons, it wasn’t just the PM who was confused. But did the Opposition leader have a point? FactCheck investigates.