EU laws, migration, energy and security arrests - Tory leadership claims checked

The Conservative Party's 4 enactment candidates person been speaking astatine the party's league successful the contention to win Rishi Sunak.

We person checked claims made by each of them.

Kemi Badenoch was asked astir the erstwhile Conservative government’s pledge to scrap thousands of EU laws by the extremity of 2023.

To minimise disruption pursuing Brexit successful 2020, the UK incorporated thousands of EU laws into UK law.

Ms Badenoch told Conservative members: “We did axe 4,000 [laws]”.

This is not right.

It was Badenoch - the commercialized caput astatine the clip - who announced successful May 2023 that lone 600 EU laws would beryllium axed by the extremity of 2023, with different 500 fiscal services laws acceptable to vanish later.

All different EU authorities was kept, unless ministers subsequently utilized different powers to alteration it.

Speaking astir nett migration, James Cleverly told the conference: “I got it down by 300,000 radical a year”.

Mr Cleverly was location caput betwixt 13 November 2023 and 5 July 2024.

In December past twelvemonth helium announced regularisation changes connected visas for overseas workers, students and their families, which helium said would chopped nett migration by 300,000.

But we can’t yet accidental whether helium achieved that - due to the fact that the authoritative nett migration figures for 2024, which are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are not available.

Net migration - the fig of radical coming into the country, minus the fig of radical leaving - reached a grounds precocious of 764,000 successful 2022 and fell backmost somewhat to 685,000 in the latest figures for 2023.

The ONS volition people the figures for the 12 months to the extremity of June 2024 adjacent month.

Robert Jenrick talked astir rising vigor prices, which helium said had caused factories to adjacent and families to suffer.

“This is each due to the fact that we person go truthful reliant connected costly forms of vigor similar offshore wind,” helium said.

It is not existent to accidental that offshore upwind is the operator of precocious vigor prices.

In the UK, energy prices are usually determined by the terms of gas.

For this reason, erstwhile state prices spiked successful 2022 pursuing the Russian penetration of Ukraine, energy prices roseate sharply arsenic well.

While offshore upwind was comparatively costly successful the 2000s and aboriginal 2010s, it has mostly been getting cheaper since.

As a result, the National Infrastructure Commission said past twelvemonth that the “cost of renewable electricity, done offshore wind, onshore upwind and solar, is little and little volatile than producing energy with earthy gas”.

The government’s autarkic adviser, the Climate Change Committee, has besides said that the most effectual semipermanent mode to chopped vigor bills is to determination distant from fossil fuels.

And successful a global study earlier this year the International Energy Agency concluded that the “rapid rollout of cleanable technologies makes vigor cheaper, not much costly”.

Tom Tugendhat has repeatedly made this assertion astir his grounds arsenic information minister.

He took connected that relation successful September 2022 and held it until the election, astir 2 years later.

The National Security Act was passed successful July 2023 and came into unit past December.

No publically disposable information shows what its effects person been truthful far, truthful we cannot archer whether Tugendhat's assertion is correct.

It includes provisions astir threats to nationalist information from espionage, sabotage and persons acting for overseas powers.

The Home Office wasn’t capable to springiness america a fig of arrested agents and suggested we inquire the constabulary instead.

The Metropolitan Police told america to taxable a Freedom of Information request, which we person done.

The Home Office has antecedently told america that anyone charged with an offence nether the National Security Act would inactive beryllium portion of an progressive ineligible process, truthful anyone progressive would lone beryllium an alleged agent.

The Justice Ministry besides didn’t person information connected arrests and told america that immoderate tribunal information by offence wouldn’t see what Act the prosecution was brought under, oregon the defendants’ individuality arsenic a "Chinese oregon Russian spy".

We’ve approached Tom Tugendhat to inquire for much details but haven’t heard back.