Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Small boat crossings did not start after the Brexit referendum
asserted
crossings → start → referendum
The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, Max Wilkinson, told his party conference last week: “Before the (Brexit) referendum, not a single small boat crossed the Channel.”
asserted
boat → tell → Channel
The Government only publishes official data on small boat arrivals from 2018 onwards, and the number did rise substantially in the 2020s.
asserted
number → publish → 2020s
But there is plenty of evidence of crossings taking place before then, and before the referendum in June 2016.
asserted
crossings → be → June
A 2020 report from the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration says the Home Office “was aware of isolated cases of migrants arriving in the UK clandestinely by small boats before 2014/15”, and mentions “nine confirmed incidents of migrants reaching the UK having crossed the Channel in a small vessel” between July 2014 and May 2016.
uncertain
migrants → say → July
In April 2016, it was reported that migrants were paying people smugglers to transport them across the Channel in small boats – and Border Force vessels had been patrolling the Channel for this reason since at least August 2014.
The International Organisation for Migration’s missing migrants data also records several incidents of drowning on the “Mainland Europe to the UK” route in 2014, 2015 and early 2016.
asserted
data → report → 2014
Indeed, the Migration Observatory has said reports of these types of Channel crossing “go back over 50 years”.
asserted
reports → say → crossing
By way of example, we can see that politicians said asylum seekers had been trying to cross the Channel in rubber dinghies back in December 2001.
asserted
seekers → see → December
And eight Pakistani men arrived in Sandwich Bay, Kent, in August 1967, which the home secretary at the time said was the second incident of its kind.
asserted
secretary → arrive → kind
The evidence does suggest that small boat crossings became much more common after the Brexit referendum, and specifically after 2018.
asserted
crossings → suggest → 2018
A report from the Home Affairs Committee says that until 2018, “irregular migration on a substantial scale focused heavily on ferry and rail routes, with only a handful crossing the Channel in small boats each year”.
asserted
handful → say → boats
Full Fact contacted Mr Wilkinson for comment.
asserted
Fact → contact → comment
A viral video featuring Nato soldiers is circulating online with the claim that it is “a new promotional clip” from the military alliance.
uncertain
it → feature → alliance
Nato originally posted the video on its social media channels in summer 2024 to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary.
asserted
Nato → post → anniversary
The caption said the video was about “protecting our freedom, democracy and our way of life for over 75 years”.
asserted
video → say → years
Several social media posts which we’ve seen sharing the video in recent days claim: “Nato just dropped this new promotional clip – to support all the other War Propaganda currently being fed for the masses, as Europe prepares for war with Russia.”
uncertain
Europe → see → Russia
One of the posts, on X, has had over 1.4 million views.
asserted
One → have → views
We have not found any evidence that Nato has shared the video recently.
asserted
Nato → find → video
The claims come amid recent media coverage of the UK Government’s plan for a national resilience public awareness campaign to “inform the public of the small but important steps they can take to be prepared in case of emergencies and disruption”, which could arise from a range of threats including cyber attacks or severe weather events.
uncertain
which → come → attacks
The Aporia
