The prime minister and the chair of the Conservative party have been accused of circulating false information about Labour’s immigration plans, with a charity warning this could mislead voters in the next general election.
Full Fact, which monitors the factual accuracy of statements made in public debate, has repeatedly raised concerns about comments made by Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party chair, Greg Hands, claiming that Labour has pledged to open UK borders to 100,000 people a year.
The claim was made by Sunak in his keynote speech at the Conservative party conference this month and repeated by Hands in a column in the Express newspaper soon afterwards. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, announced in September that his party would seek a deal with the EU to return some new arrivals to mainland Europe while allowing others to enter Britain if it were in government.
In a letter sent to the two politicians and shared with the Guardian, Andrew Dudfield, the interim chief executive of Full Fact, described the claims as “unacceptable” and “deeply disappointing”.
He wrote: “Spreading misinformation about political opponents is damaging to our democracy and it is important that you stop repeating this claim. We are publicly calling on you to show leadership and not initiate or contribute to the spread of misleading claims, including about other political parties.”
Full Fact says the 100,000 figure is based on a number of assumptions about a hypothetical returns agreement. It assumes that the UK would be part of an EU quota system even though it is not in the EU and that the UK would be forced to relocate migrants rather than contribute financially, something that is an option for member states. It also assumes that the quota system would relocate all asylum applicants arriving in the EU among member states. Labour has said it would not sign up to an EU quota scheme.
The letter adds: “We call on the PM to show leadership and ask to be reassured that the PM and Conservative party chair will do everything possible to ensure they don’t mislead voters ahead of the next election.”
Previously, the UK Statistics Authority found Sunak had used incorrect figures when comparing the asylum backlog under the Conservatives with the figure under Labour, claiming Labour’s figure was much higher than that of the Tories. In fact, when Labour was voted out of power in 2010, the asylum backlog was 19,000, while it was about 160,000 in March this year.
Glen Tarman, the head of policy at Full Fact, said, “When Rishi Sunak took office, he promised to lead with honesty and integrity. Politicians shouldn’t need factcheckers to tell them that repeating a misleading claim is not leading with honesty. With an election on the horizon, it’s more important than ever that we see accountability and integrity from all political parties. But crucially we want to see our prime minister lead by example. Failing to prioritise trust in politics will only continue to damage our democracy.”
Full Fact has not received a reply to its letter to PM and Hands.
The Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, the shadow minister for immigration, said: “The Tories are plucking numbers out of the air in a desperate attempt to divert the blame away from their own shambolic handling of the asylum system.
“Labour is committed to stopping the small boats crossings, smashing the criminal gangs, ending £8m-per-day asylum hotel use and fixing the broken asylum system.
“One hundred thousand people have crossed the Channel on small boats under the Tories. Meanwhile the asylum backlog has rocketed nine-fold to 176,000 since Labour left office in 2010, despite the constant lies from Tory ministers.”
A Conservative party spokesperson said: “Sir Keir said in an on-the-record interview that he was open to accepting quotas of migrants as part of an arrangement with Brussels – 100,000 is a conservative estimate of how many the UK would be required to take under any such agreement based on the UK’s population, the European Council’s new solidarity mechanism and the fact that there were 1 million asylum applications in EU countries last year.
“The fact he is now refusing to engage in the substance of this discussion shows he will always prioritise scoring a quick political point over the long-term interests of the country.”
