Reality Check

Budget 2026: who is left to tax?

With two months to go until Andy Burnham and John Healey’s first Budget, speculation about tax rises is already beginning. But how much should we believe? Michael Simmon

The ADHD boom: are we medicalising normal behaviour?

The backlash to Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth has reignited a fierce debate over how we diagnose ADHD – and whether that debate itself is becoming impossible to have.

Heatwave: the truth about Britain’s water crisis – and what it means for net zero

Britain is in the grip of another hot, dry summer, with hosepipe bans in force and fears growing about the country’s water supply. But are we really running out of water?

Britain’s AI problem isn’t data centres – it’s electricity

Britain wants to become an AI superpower – but does it have the electricity to power one? Data centres underpin everything from online banking and streaming to artificial

Labour doesn’t understand business and it shows – with Oliver Shah

Oliver Shah is a former journalist at The Sunday Times and now runs Newcome Advisory. On this week's Reality Check Oliver and Michael discuss why Labour can't build trust

Social care reform: what the sector needs & what it doesn't – with David Goodhart

Andy Burnham has launched a major push to overhaul adult social care in England, seeking cross-party consensus for a new National Care Service. He has refused to rule out

Could women be the solution to Britain's prison problem?

Amid rising backlash over the early prisoner release scheme, Kemi Badenoch has called for emergency legislation to stop the plans going ahead. The new Prime Minister Andy

The real problem behind Britain's homelessness & why Burnham won't fix it

Andy Burnham has laid out some of his top policy agendas for his premiership. Top of the list is to tackle homelessness – something the former Manchester mayor pledged to

Fact check: Rupert Lowe on Joe Rogan

Last week, the Joe Rogan Experience podcast released a two-hour interview with Rupert Lowe, leader of the Restore party. Was Lowe there merely to create content – or is R

The white working class ceiling, private schools & why Britain's failing – with Joanna Marchong

A report has suggested that white working class children are being failed by the education system that is 'not serving in [their] interests'. Burnham blames a lack of asp

Burnham's bid to bridge the North-South divide

Andy Burnham has laid out his plans to 'level up the North'. Something we have heard with almost every Prime Minister pledge to do – but with very little clarity over how

Labour's dilemma: is Burnham's economic agenda doomed?

With Andy Burnham set to replace Keir Starmer in Downing Street, Michael Simmons and John O’Neill take a look at what kind of economic agenda agenda may lie ahead, who th

DEBATE: is Starmer right to ban social media for under 16s?

Keir Starmer has announced his plans to ban social media for under 16s in Britain. The ban is due to come in early next year and include all main social media apps. Age-r

How corporate woke sent Pride broke

For years, Pride month has been an unmissable fixture in the corporate calendar. But recently, many of the world’s biggest brands appear to be quietly backing away – toni

Can you trust your spouse with your finances? Plus Britain's longest divorce. With Alice Wright

Nicola Sturgeon has claimed she was deceived by her ex husband Peter Murrell who pled guilty having embezzled tens of thousands of pounds of SNP money. Financial infideli

Price caps are pointless – why Reeves is wrong to attack supermarkets

The government have rolled back on plans to impose price caps in supermarkets. Was Reeves wrong to go after them for price gouging? Michael Simmons has the data. This epi

Trump's tariffs & Mamdani's New York – can anything destroy America's economy?

Is the US economy immune to harm? It has been tested this year under Trump's trade tariffs, and inflation fears. Kate Andrews, former economics editor of The Spectator no

How to revive industrial Britain: SDP leader on British steel, the entitlement state & a Farage pact

As Keir Starmer's government implodes, the Prime Minister has outlined his vision to regain support – one of which is to nationalise British steel. Michael Simmons is joi

Council budgets are financial black holes – what's the point in voting?

May local elections have finally arrived. As 5,066 seats are contested in local councils many are wondering whether there is any point in voting at all. These councils ma

Polanski slams the 'war on drugs' – here's why he's wrong about legalisation

Britain has recorded the highest drug deaths in Europe. Green Party leader Zack Polanski has declared that this means the so called 'war on drugs' is not working, and fav