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| - A post on X (formerly Twitter), versions of which have also been shared on Facebook, makes a number of claims about actions supposedly taken by Labour during its first week in government.
It says: “Starmer Government: Week 1
- Created new Barons & Lords.
- Sent UK missiles to bomb Russian people and territory.
- Rubber Stamps Water Bills rising up to 44%.
- £1bn for new Hypersonic Missiles.
- £87bn per year on defence spending.
- Hired Pro-NHS Privatisation Advisors.”
A number of these claims are inaccurate, and some refer to actions taken by the previous Conservative government before the election.
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UK has not sent missiles to bomb Russian territory
This claim appears to be based on reports last month that the UK government had given Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the UK against military targets within Russia, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X (formerly Twitter): “This morning, I learned about the permission to use Storm Shadow missiles against military targets in Russian territory. Today, we had the opportunity to discuss the practical implementation of this decision.”
However, it’s since been reported that this is not the case, with Number 10 telling the Daily Telegraph that the government’s policy “had not changed”, meaning that while the UK does allow Ukraine to fire Storm Shadow missiles at Russian military targets within Ukraine and the annexed Crimean peninsula, it does not have permission to fire them at targets in Russia.
We’ve contacted the Ministry of Defence to clarify this and will update this article if we receive a response.
Water bill increases proposed by regulator
This claim appears to refer to an announcement from the water industry regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, on 11 July on proposed increases to water bills over the next five years.
Under the draft proposals, water bills would be set to increase by an average of £94 over the next five years, or £19 per year. This would be a 21% increase, but prices vary depending on the water company, and it is true that the highest increase, for Southern Water customers, would be approximately 44% over the next five years under the proposals.
Ofwat is a non-ministerial government department (departments which do not have direct political oversight), so it’s worth being clear that the decision on price increases was not taken by Labour government politicians. In addition, the price increases are currently in the draft proposal stage, so have not been formally confirmed.
Defence commitments were made ahead of the general election
The post also claims that in its first week Mr Starmer’s government committed “£1bn for new Hypersonic Missiles” and “£87bn per year on defence spending”.
Both of these decisions were actually taken under the previous Conservative government ahead of the general election.
In May, the Ministry of Defence announced that 90 organisations had been given a place on the Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework agreement “set up to rapidly develop advanced hypersonic missile capabilities for the UK”, and would be eligible to bid for up to £1 billion worth of contracts.
The £87 billion figure meanwhile appears to refer to plans announced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in April 2024 to increase the UK’s defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030, which the government said would have seen annual spending on defence reach £87 billion by the end of the decade.
As we’ve previously explained, while Labour has also committed to the 2.5% spending target, it has not specified a timeframe for reaching it.
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