London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Johnson’s interview before the Tory party conference – factcheck

Johnson’s interview before the Tory party conference – factcheck

PM made a number of assertions in his Andrew Marr appearance, but how accurate were they?

In the traditional pre-party conference broadcast interview, Boris Johnson was grilled by the BBC’s Andrew Marr. Here are some of his key points – and a check on their accuracy.


Shortages of truck drivers

"There’s even a shortage of truck drivers in China, there’s a shortage in America and in Poland.

While Johnson is correct that the haulage industry faces long-term recruitment and retention issues in many places, the counter-argument is that no other countries – and not even Northern Ireland – have seen such a sudden supply chain crisis, notably at petrol stations. In response to this question, Johnson said there was “a particular problem to do with demand in this country” when it came to fuel. However, elsewhere in the interview he also said: “The issue at the forecourts is fundamentally one of supply.” So it is not completely clear what his argument is.


Who is paying most under the national insurance rise

"If you want to know who’s going to be paying the most from national insurance, do you know who it is? It’s the banks. It’s the banks.

This was Johnson’s response to questions by Marr about the increase in national insurance rates to tackle the post-Covid NHS backlog and assist social care. However, there does not appear to be any published data to back up Johnson’s claim, with banking organisations unable to point to any.

According to one report by PwC, the total taxes borne by the banking sector were highest compared with any other UK industry in 2020, accounting for about 30% of private-sector receipts. However, the survey did not provide a breakdown by tax type, nor did it provide any forecasts regarding the national insurance increases.

The Treasury was not immediately able to provide supporting analysis. The question was put to the Conservative press office.


Wages are rising for low-paid workers

"Wages are finally going up for the low-paid and they’re going up faster by the way than they are for those on high incomes. And about time too.

The section on wages prompted a disagreement between Johnson and Marr, with the latter saying official statistics for the three months to July, the most recent, showed that wages were not keeping pace with inflation from the year before, meaning they had fallen in real terms. The prime minister vehemently disagreed. The answer seems to be that it depends what statistics are used. An Office for National Statistics study did say median weekly earnings remained unchanged from a year before, giving a real-terms cut. But other statistics show much faster wage growth – although some of this is down to a reduction in the number of lower-paid jobs due to Covid.


Violence against women and girls

"When I was mayor of London I set up the first-ever strategy, in any major city, to tackle violence against women and girls. We invested massively in independent domestic violence advisers, independent sexual violence advisers, we set up rape crisis centres around the whole city.

The specific framing of this statement makes it hard to prove or disprove but Johnson’s eight-year tenure as mayor was not always seen as a success when it came to tackling violence against women. He launched the strategy in 2013, in his second term. Previously, Johnson faced criticism for not delivering on a promise made before his first election to spend more on rape crisis centres – and he admitted himself that provision had been “patchy and inconsistent”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×