Our letter to the new Prime Minister

On 5 July, Sir Keir Starmer was appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Shortly after his speech outside of Number 10, Full Fact wrote to him, congratulating him on his new role and calling on him to be true to his word to restore trust in politics.

Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

5 July 2024

Dear Sir Keir,

Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister.

You have long called for politics to be returned to a public service. Outside Number 10, you said politics “can be a force for good” and you stated that the public’s “lack of trust” in politics “can only be healed by actions, not words.” Full Fact agrees with this, and I hope you will be true to your word. We will endeavour to provide the scrutiny and offer the support you need to help make restoring trust in politics a reality.

Over the course of the general election campaign we fact checked several repeated false claims made by politicians from all parties. In this moment of change, we ask that you prioritise laying the groundwork for improved behaviour, by getting the rules and standards in place. We ask that you:

  • Rapidly create your Commission for Ethics and Integrity, which you have pledged in your manifesto, and have the terms of reference open to scrutiny.
  • Make the Ministerial Code statutory, and incorporate compulsory adherence to the Code of Practice for Statistics.
  • Prioritise the fight against misinformation and equip the public with the tools to detect bad information online.

In the coming weeks, Full Fact will contact new MPs and members of your Cabinet to help them understand the issues around misinformation and standards in public life. We will use our AI tools to monitor more claims than ever before in this Parliament and help members correct any errors, so that they can perform their role with honesty and integrity.

As the UK’s largest independent fact checking organisation, we want to increase trust in politics not diminish it. But we need politicians to take the lead. With public service comes public responsibility and I wish you every success as Prime Minister.

Yours sincerely,


Chris Morris
Chief Executive