State Integrity: week of 25 Oct 2026
This week's subjects
Kemi Badenoch on inflation, PMQs 29 October 2025
Kemi Badenoch said: “On our record, we brought inflation down to 2%; it has doubled under the Prime Minister.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Kemi Badenoch on unemployment and payrolled jobs, PMQs 12 November 2025
Kemi Badenoch said: “Yesterday, we learned that unemployment has risen to the same rate as it was in lockdown—180,000 jobs lost.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Shabana Mahmood on asylum claims, 17 November 2025
Shabana Mahmood said: “The burden that has fallen on this country has been heavy: 400,000 have sought asylum here in the past four years.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Ed Davey on online gambling revenues, PMQs 19 November 2025
Ed Davey said: “Meanwhile, online gambling firms are taking in record revenues of more than £7 billion a year.” This page repeats what Gambling Commission reports.
Rachel Reeves on minimum wage rates, Budget 26 November 2025
Rachel Reeves said: “I am accepting the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission in full and increasing the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds from £10 to £10.85 per hour, and increasing the living wage from £12.21 to £…” This page repeats what GOV.UK reports.
Kemi Badenoch on Universal Credit claimants, Budget debate 26 November 2025
Kemi Badenoch said: “There are 1 million more people claiming universal credit than there were at the time of the last Budget.” This page repeats what Department for Work and Pensions reports.
Richard Tice on payrolled employees, Budget debate 26 November 2025
Richard Tice said: “Jobs are down by nearly 200,000 people since the last Budget.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Mel Stride on food price inflation, Budget debate 27 November 2025
Mel Stride said: “Labour is the party that talks about resolving poverty; it is a disgrace that food inflation in the last set of figures went up way above the headline rate, from 4.5% to 4.9%.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Bridget Phillipson on child poverty, 8 December 2025
Bridget Phillipson said: “There are now 4.5 million children in poverty—900,000 more than in 2010.” This page repeats what Department for Work and Pensions reports.
Kemi Badenoch on teacher numbers, PMQs 10 December 2025
Kemi Badenoch said: “There are now 400 fewer teachers since the Education Secretary came into office” This page repeats what Department for Education reports.
Kemi Badenoch on energy bills, PMQs 10 December 2025
Kemi Badenoch said: “Energy bills have risen by £187.” This page repeats what Ofgem and Office for National Statistics report.
Kemi Badenoch on police officer numbers, PMQs 10 December 2025
Kemi Badenoch said: “I asked the Prime Minister how many police officers; there are now 1,300 fewer officers than at the election.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Alison McGovern on families in bed and breakfast accommodation, 11 December 2025
Alison McGovern said: “It is already the law—it has been for 20 years—that children are not supposed to be in B&Bs for more than six weeks. What on Earth is going on in this country when there are 2,000 children in such a s…” This page repeats what MHCLG reports.
Keir Starmer on the unemployment rate, PMQs 17 December 2025
Keir Starmer said: “I remind the Conservatives that, under their watch, unemployment averaged 5.4%—higher than it is today.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Chris Philp on small boat arrivals, 5 January 2026
Chris Philp said: “The numbers are going up: 41,000 illegal immigrants crossed the channel last year, a 40% increase on 2023.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Keir Starmer on NHS waiting lists, PMQs 21 January 2026
Keir Starmer said: “Waiting lists are down by more than 300,000, an extra 2,900 GPs have been recruited, and ambulances are arriving nearly 15 minutes faster this winter than they were last year.” This page repeats what NHS England reports.
Emma Reynolds on storm overflow monitoring, 21 January 2026
Emma Reynolds said: “Since January of last year, 100% of storm overflows are being monitored, so we are shining a light of some of the pollution.” This page repeats what Environment Agency reports.
Victoria Atkins on storm overflow monitoring, 21 January 2026
Victoria Atkins said: “When we entered Government in 2010, only 7% of storm overflows were monitored by the previous Labour Government.” This page repeats what Environment Agency reports.
Ed Miliband on energy bills in real terms, 10 February 2026
Ed Miliband said: “That builds on the fact that the price cap and average energy bills were lower in real terms in 2025 than in 2024.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Rachel Reeves on Bank Rate, Spring Forecast 3 March 2026
Rachel Reeves said: “Today’s forecast shows that debt is down, borrowing is down, inflation is down, and interest rates are down from 5.25%, where the Conservatives left them, to 3.75% today.” This page repeats what Bank of England reports.
Sarah Olney on unemployment, Spring Forecast debate 3 March 2026
Sarah Olney said: “In the three months to December, unemployment reached 5.2%, the highest rate for nearly five years, and youth unemployment has hit a staggering 16%.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Alex Norris on asylum claims, 9 March 2026
Alex Norris said: “In the UK, there have been over 80,000 asylum claims for the last two years; for the previous decade, claims averaged 27,500.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Richard Holden on the bus fare cap, 18 March 2026
Richard Holden said: “First they abolished the much-loved £2 bus fare cap, which the Conservatives had pledged at the general election to continue for the entirety of this Parliament: they have put bus fares up by 50%.” This page repeats what Department for Transport reports.
Nigel Farage on small boat arrivals, PMQs 25 March 2026
Nigel Farage said: “But 70,000 people later, with 1,000 in the last week and too many young men who pose a threat to national security, is it not time to admit that “smash the gangs” has been a total, abject failure—alon…” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Wes Streeting on the NHS waiting list, 14 April 2026
Wes Streeting said: “We inherited from the Conservatives an NHS facing the worst crisis in its history, with waiting lists at a record 7.6 million and public satisfaction at record lows.” This page repeats what NHS England reports.
Sarah Jones on knife crime, 14 April 2026
Sarah Jones said: “Since the start of this Parliament, knife crime is down by 8% and knife homicides are down by 27%, to the lowest level in a decade.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Keir Starmer on neighbourhood police officers, PMQs 22 April 2026
Keir Starmer said: “In England and Wales, Labour has put 3,000 more neighbourhood police officers on our streets, delivering a named police officer for every neighbourhood.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Lord Livermore on inflation, House of Lords 22 April 2026
Lord Livermore said: “Inflation was at 3% and is set to fall to target—a much lower starting point than when Russia illegally invaded Ukraine.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Ed Davey on inflation, PMQs 22 April 2026
Ed Davey said: “President Trump’s idiotic war with Iran has already pushed up inflation in our country to 3.3%, and the Prime Minister knows there is far worse to come for the British people from here on in.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Pat McFadden on the unemployment rate, 27 April 2026
Pat McFadden said: “The latest unemployment figures published last week show a fall to 4.9% in February, which I am sure the whole House will welcome.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Helen Whately on unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds, 27 April 2026
Helen Whately said: “Unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds is at 14.3%—that means that one in seven young people is unemployed.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Keir Starmer on inflation, interest rates and growth, PMQs 29 April 2026
Keir Starmer said: “At the spring statement, the Chancellor was very proud to say that inflation was down to 3% and falling; interest rates have been cut six times; and we have seen the growth figures for the early part …” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics and Bank of England report.
Tim Farron on storm overflow spill hours, 16 June 2026
Tim Farron said: “Instead, sewage was released into our lakes, rivers and seas for 1.8 million hours last year, and more than 100,000 of those were in the Thames region alone.” This page repeats what Environment Agency reports.
Bridget Phillipson on teacher numbers, 22 June 2026
Bridget Phillipson said: “There are now over 4,600 more teachers in our secondary and special schools, as well as our colleges, compared with when Labour entered Government.” This page repeats what Department for Education reports.
Dave Doogan on youth unemployment, 7 July 2026
Dave Doogan said: “Youth unemployment stood at 626,000 last year, so with this fabulous economy, why has it gone up by 109,000?” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
David Lammy on police officer numbers, PMQs 8 July 2026
David Lammy said: “We lost 16,000 police officers when the Conservatives were in power.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
James Cleverly on police officer numbers, PMQs 8 July 2026
James Cleverly said: “He talks about getting over the detail, but here is a simple detail for him: when I was Home Secretary, we had more police officers than at any point in British history. Since Labour taking over, that…” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Sarah Jones on police officer numbers, 13 July 2026
Sarah Jones said: “In England and Wales, there were 145,550 full-time equivalent police officers as of September 2025 and 146,868 police officers as of September 2024.” This page repeats what Home Office reports.
Keir Starmer on net migration, small boats and asylum, PMQs 15 July 2026
Keir Starmer said: “I am pleased that net migration is down 82%, small boat crossings are down 40%, the asylum backlog is down, we are closing asylum hotels and we deported 70,000 people with no right to be here.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics and Home Office report.
Andy Burnham on social housing and waiting lists, 1 September 2026
Andy Burnham said: “we have a public housing stock that has 1.5 million fewer homes than in the ’80s and ’90s, and we now have 1.5 million people on housing waiting lists up and down the country.” This page repeats what Ministry of Housing reports.
Andy Burnham on GDP growth, PMQs 2 September 2026
Andy Burnham said: “In the first half of this year, we have had the fastest growth in the G7.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Liz Saville Roberts on VAT for hospitality, PMQs 9 September 2026
Liz Saville Roberts said: “Supporting businesses like Yr Heliwr is key for economic growth in coastal areas, but they are held back by a 20% VAT rate; in France, Spain and Italy, hospitality pays just 10%.” This page repeats what HM Revenue and Customs reports.
Pat McFadden on the new State Pension, 13 October 2026
Pat McFadden said: “Keeping that promise means that this year the full new state pension is rising by £575.” This page repeats what Department for Work and Pensions reports.
Miatta Fahnbulleh on the Warm Home Discount, 13 October 2026
Miatta Fahnbulleh said: “That means £150 for 6 million of our lowest-earning households.” This page repeats what GOV.UK and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero report.
Richard Tice on prison cells and foreign national prisoners, 13 October 2026
Richard Tice said: “There are some 4,000 empty cells that require maintenance and refurbishment, and 10,000 cells are occupied by overseas nationals.” This page repeats what Ministry of Justice reports.
Release days
- UK jobs and pay figures for June to August 2026: what the ONS reported
The ONS reported that the UK unemployment rate was 4.7% for June to August 2026, compared with 4.9% for May to July 2026. A year earlier, for June to August 2025, it was 4.8%. - UK inflation figures for September 2026: what the ONS reported
The ONS reported that the UK inflation rate (CPI) was 3.5% for September 2026, compared with 3.1% for August 2026. A year earlier, for September 2025, it was 3.8%. - UK public finances figures for September 2026: what the ONS reported
The ONS reported that the UK public sector net borrowing was £24.5 billion for September 2026, compared with £17.3 billion for August 2026. A year earlier, for September 2025, it was £22.8 billion. - UK retail sales figures for September 2026: what the ONS reported
The ONS reported that Retail sales volume growth (Great Britain) was 0.8% for September 2026, compared with 2.7% for August 2026. A year earlier, for September 2025, it was 1.8%. - UK mortgage approvals and consumer credit figures for Jul 2026: what the Bank of England reported
The Bank of England reported that Mortgage approvals for house purchase was 56,053 for Jul 2026, compared with 58,215 for Jun 2026. A year earlier, for Jul 2025, it was 65,905.