The Tory Truth Gap: Outright Lies and Misleading Claims from the UK Conservative Party
The Conservative Party in the United Kingdom has been repeatedly accused of misleading the public, spreading false information, and, in some cases, telling outright lies. Below are some of the most significant examples, based on events and evidence up to October 2023, where members of the party were caught bending or breaking the truth. Brexit and the £350 Million Claim During the 2016 Brexit referendum, the Leave campaign, supported by leading Conservatives including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, emblazoned a slogan across a campaign bus that read: “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead.” This figure was grossly misleading. It ignored the rebate the UK received from the EU and failed to account for the funds that were returned to Britain to support various projects. The UK Statistics Authority labelled the claim as “misleading”, and it quickly became a symbol of dishonesty. Johnson later conceded that using the figure had been a “mistake”, but the damage ...