In the record, not in the score. 176 sentences and 26 questions from the official text. The selection rule did not choose it, so it does not count towards the score. How transcripts are chosen
Same event
2 Sep 2026
Everyone in our line-up who spoke here, each rated by the same rules on their own words. Our model rated this. The BS Index is not compared here because the speakers were scored on different measures (for example, one asked the questions and the other answered them). Compare the measures instead.
Andy Burnhamthis transcript
Prime Minister
–of 16 checked claims hold up–of 26 questions answered
Supported11Partly supported2Contradicted by evidence1Can't verify2
16 claims checked against independent sources, chosen by a fixed rule (every material claim (one that supports an argument, a policy or an attack) in the transcripts that count towards a score; in other transcripts, up to 10 claims spread evenly across each; plus any claim an emotional passage relies on). 0 more were found but not checked yet; they do not count.
Quotes leave out filler sounds and repeated words. Words in [square brackets] correct a transcript that misheard or misspelt them. The transcript keeps every word as published.
Supported75% confidence
“the same co-operation that has helped us reduce summer small boat crossings to a seven-year low”
Claim checkedUK-French co-operation helped reduce small boat crossings in summer 2026 (June to August) to their lowest level in seven years.
Home Office data showed small boat crossings in June to August 2026 were the lowest for that period since 2019, a seven-year low. Arrivals were around 48% lower than in summer 2025. Reports linked the fall partly to an April 2026 deal with France that increased French beach patrols, though other factors may also have contributed.
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Supported90% confidence
“Within days of taking office, I indicated that we would remove VAT from electricity bills.”
Claim checkedWithin days of becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham announced that VAT would be removed from household electricity bills.
On 21 July 2026, the day after taking office, he announced that VAT on domestic electricity would be cut from 5% to 0% from 1 October 2026 for six months.
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Supported90% confidence
“we said that there would be a cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues”
Claim checkedDays after Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, the Government announced a cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues.
On 23 July 2026 the Government announced a 20% business rates cut for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England from April 2027.
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Supported60% confidence
“he and I worked together to turn Greater Manchester from a former industrial heartland to the fastest-growing city region in the country”
Claim checkedAndy Burnham and Jim O'Neill worked together to turn Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city region in the UK over roughly the past decade.
Analysis of ONS data published by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in January 2026 found Greater Manchester was the UK's fastest-growing sub-regional (ITL2) economy from 2015 to 2023, at 3.1% a year against 1.5% for the UK. Centre for Cities describes it as one of the fastest-growing big city economies. How much of this growth was due to Jim O'Neill and Andy Burnham is a matter of opinion and cannot be tested.
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Partly supported60% confidence
“We saw 14 years of debt rising as a percentage of GDP.”
Claim checkedUK government debt rose as a percentage of GDP throughout the 14 years of Conservative-led government from 2010 to 2024.
Public sector net debt rose from about 65% of GDP in 2010 to close to 100% by 2024, so it rose over the 14 years as a whole, but not every year: it fell back between 2017 and 2019.
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Supported85% confidence
“In the first half of this year, we have had the fastest growth in the G7.”
Claim checkedIn the first half of 2026 the UK had the fastest economic growth in the G7.
ONS figures show UK GDP grew 0.6% in the first quarter of 2026 and 0.4% in the second quarter (later revised to 0.5%). That made the UK the fastest-growing G7 economy in the first half of 2026.
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Supported70% confidence
“Borrowing fell to its lowest level in six years.”
Claim checkedUK government borrowing has fallen to its lowest level in six years.
The ONS estimated borrowing in the financial year ending March 2026 at about 4.2% of GDP, the lowest since the year ending March 2020; borrowing in the early months of 2026-27 has run above forecast.
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Can't verify55% confidence
“We are cutting the deficit faster than any other G7 country.”
Claim checkedThe UK is cutting its budget deficit faster than any other G7 country.
The IMF projects the UK deficit falling from 5.4% of GDP in 2025 to 3.9% in 2026, but no independent comparison across all G7 countries was found to confirm it is the fastest.
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Partly supported50% confidence
“she removed a shadow Chancellor who said that the Truss mini-Budget was a mistake and replaced him with one who helped to write the Truss mini-Budget”
Claim checkedAt the end of August 2026, Kemi Badenoch removed Mel Stride, a shadow Chancellor who had said the 2022 Truss mini-Budget was a mistake, and replaced him with Andrew Griffith, who helped write that mini-Budget.
In a reshuffle in late August 2026, Kemi Badenoch replaced shadow Chancellor Mel Stride with Andrew Griffith. Griffith was Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 7 September to 27 October 2022, which covers the 23 September 2022 mini-Budget. We found no source confirming that Stride called the mini-Budget a mistake, and 'helped to write' is a description of Griffith's role rather than a documented fact.
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Supported75% confidence
“the Leader of the Opposition herself is on record as saying that Liz Truss was “100% right””
Claim checkedKemi Badenoch is on record saying that Liz Truss was "100% right" over her 2022 mini-Budget.
On 23 September 2022, the day of the mini-budget, Kemi Badenoch posted that the Prime Minister and Chancellor were 💯 right to change course with their Growth Plan; the "100%" was the emoji, about the Growth Plan.
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Supported85% confidence
“he was a senior Minister in the Treasury on the day of the Truss Budget”
Claim checkedThe new shadow Chancellor, Andrew Griffith, was a senior Treasury minister on 23 September 2022, the day of the Truss mini-Budget.
Parliament's record shows Andrew Griffith, appointed shadow Chancellor on 31 August 2026, served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 7 September to 27 October 2022. Hansard records the Truss 'Growth Plan' statement on 23 September 2022, within that period. The Financial Secretary is the third-ranking Treasury minister, so 'senior Minister' is a fair description.
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Contradicted by evidence75% confidence
“I have made that commitment, I have made it very clearly, and I have done so for a considerable time.”
Claim checkedAndy Burnham has clearly committed, and for a considerable time, to a path to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
Asked to commit to 3% of GDP on defence by 2030: in late July 2026 he declined to commit to that, pointing to NATO's 3.5% by 2035, and on 9 September 2026 he left the 3% date to the spending review.
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Supported75% confidence
“I introduced a free bus pass for 16 to 18-year-olds to connect them to opportunity”
Claim checkedAs Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham introduced a free bus pass for 16- to 18-year-olds.
Local news reports show that, as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham launched 'Our Pass' in July 2019. From 1 September 2019 it gave 16- to 18-year-olds free travel on all Greater Manchester buses, for a one-off £10 administration fee. The scheme was presented as widening young people's access to work, education and leisure.
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Can't verify50% confidence
“the rise in NEETs—those not in education, employment or training—was not the same in Greater Manchester as in other parts of the country”
Claim checkedWhile Andy Burnham was Mayor, Greater Manchester did not see the same rise in young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) as other parts of the country.
The ONS has published NEET rates for Greater Manchester for 2021 to 2025, but the figures could not be read and no comparison with England over his mayoralty was found.
Our model rated this · methodology v7Excluded from Accuracy
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Supported70% confidence
“No borrowing to fund day-to-day spending, debt falling as a percentage of GDP by the end of the Parliament”
Claim checkedThe Government's fiscal rules are no borrowing to fund day-to-day spending and debt falling as a percentage of GDP by the end of the Parliament, and the Government will stick to them.
The fiscal rules require the current budget to balance, so borrowing pays only for investment, and debt (public sector net financial liabilities) to fall as a share of GDP by 2029-30; his summary simplifies the debt measure.
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Supported80% confidence
“dealing with the flooding that is expected in the latter part of this year is not even a statutory responsibility of the fire and rescue services”
Claim checkedResponding to flooding is not a statutory duty of fire and rescue services in England.
Under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, fire and rescue authorities in England have a power to respond to floods, but no statutory duty to do so. Fire services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do have that duty. The question came from the MP for High Peak in England. In January 2026 the National Fire Chiefs Council was still asking the government to create the duty in England.
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Not counted
1
Procedural claims (the speaker's own dates, petition counts, who said what, background), clear slips of the tongue, and words read out from someone else. They stay on the record and do not count in Accuracy.
Can't verify“I understand that I broke records on my first day back for the longest statement in modern history”Procedural: A joke about the length of his own statement on his first day back. · Prime Minister's Questions, 2 Sep 2026