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Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nThe Conservative Party’s four leadership candidates have been speaking at the party’s conference in the contest to succeed Rishi Sunak.<\/p>\n
We have checked claims made by each of them. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kemi Badenoch: ‘We axed 4,000 (EU laws)’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nKemi Badenoch was asked about the previous Conservative government\u2019s pledge to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of 2023.<\/p>\n
To minimise disruption following Brexit in 2020, the UK incorporated thousands of EU laws into UK law.<\/p>\n
Ms Badenoch told Conservative members: \u201cWe did axe 4,000 [laws]\u201d.<\/p>\n
This is not right.<\/p>\n
It was Badenoch – the trade secretary at the time – who announced in May 2023 that only 600 EU laws would be axed by the end of 2023,<\/a> with another 500 financial services laws set to disappear later.<\/p>\nAll other EU legislation was kept, unless ministers subsequently used other powers to change it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nJames Cleverly: ‘I got net migration down by 300,000 people a year’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nSpeaking about net migration, James Cleverly told the conference: \u201cI got it down by 300,000 people a year\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Cleverly was home secretary between 13 November 2023 and 5 July 2024.<\/p>\n
In December last year he announced rule changes on visas for overseas workers, students and their families, which he said would cut net migration by 300,000.<\/p>\n
But we can\u2019t yet say whether he achieved that – because the official net migration figures for 2024, which are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are not available.<\/p>\n
Net migration – the number of people coming into the country, minus the number of people leaving – reached a record high of 764,000 in 2022 and fell back slightly to 685,000 <\/a>in the latest figures for 2023.<\/p>\nThe ONS will publish the figures for the 12 months to the end of June 2024 next month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Robert Jenrick: ‘We have become so reliant on expensive forms of energy like offshore wind’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nRobert Jenrick talked about rising energy prices, which he said had caused factories to close and families to suffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all because we have become so reliant on expensive forms of energy like offshore wind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is not true to say that offshore wind is the driver of high energy prices.<\/p>\n
In the UK, electricity prices are usually determined by the price of gas.<\/p>\n
For this reason, when gas prices spiked in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, electricity prices rose sharply as well.<\/p>\n
While offshore wind was relatively expensive in the 2000s and early 2010s, it has generally been getting cheaper since.<\/p>\n
As a result, the National Infrastructure Commission<\/a> said last year that the \u201ccost of renewable electricity, through offshore wind, onshore wind and solar, is lower and less volatile than producing electricity with natural gas\u201d.<\/p>\nThe government\u2019s independent adviser, the Climate Change Committee, has also said that the most effective long-term way to cut energy bills<\/a> is to move away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
Kemi Badenoch was asked about the previous Conservative government\u2019s pledge to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of 2023.<\/p>\n
To minimise disruption following Brexit in 2020, the UK incorporated thousands of EU laws into UK law.<\/p>\n
Ms Badenoch told Conservative members: \u201cWe did axe 4,000 [laws]\u201d.<\/p>\n
This is not right.<\/p>\n
It was Badenoch – the trade secretary at the time – who announced in May 2023 that only 600 EU laws would be axed by the end of 2023,<\/a> with another 500 financial services laws set to disappear later.<\/p>\n All other EU legislation was kept, unless ministers subsequently used other powers to change it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Speaking about net migration, James Cleverly told the conference: \u201cI got it down by 300,000 people a year\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Cleverly was home secretary between 13 November 2023 and 5 July 2024.<\/p>\n In December last year he announced rule changes on visas for overseas workers, students and their families, which he said would cut net migration by 300,000.<\/p>\n But we can\u2019t yet say whether he achieved that – because the official net migration figures for 2024, which are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are not available.<\/p>\n Net migration – the number of people coming into the country, minus the number of people leaving – reached a record high of 764,000 in 2022 and fell back slightly to 685,000 <\/a>in the latest figures for 2023.<\/p>\n The ONS will publish the figures for the 12 months to the end of June 2024 next month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Robert Jenrick talked about rising energy prices, which he said had caused factories to close and families to suffer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is all because we have become so reliant on expensive forms of energy like offshore wind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It is not true to say that offshore wind is the driver of high energy prices.<\/p>\n In the UK, electricity prices are usually determined by the price of gas.<\/p>\n For this reason, when gas prices spiked in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, electricity prices rose sharply as well.<\/p>\n While offshore wind was relatively expensive in the 2000s and early 2010s, it has generally been getting cheaper since.<\/p>\n As a result, the National Infrastructure Commission<\/a> said last year that the \u201ccost of renewable electricity, through offshore wind, onshore wind and solar, is lower and less volatile than producing electricity with natural gas\u201d.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s independent adviser, the Climate Change Committee, has also said that the most effective long-term way to cut energy bills<\/a> is to move away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\nJames Cleverly: ‘I got net migration down by 300,000 people a year’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Robert Jenrick: ‘We have become so reliant on expensive forms of energy like offshore wind’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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