Finding the facts: ITV News series on the EU referendum

Remain or Leave?
Politics
Brexit
Saturday 16 April 2016 at 12:21pm

This week, ITV News National Editor Allegra Stratton has been examining the truth behind a range of EU referendum claims.

Our 'Finding the Facts' series has looked at the economy, the EU membership fee, immigration, laws and borders and security.

Watch all of Allegra's reports here.

The UK in a Changing Europe provides independent impartial information, from leading academics, on the UK’s relations with the EU. The ITV News series 'Finding the Facts' is based on the initiative’s work, together with fact check organisation Full Fact, around claims made by both the Leave and Remain campaigns in the upcoming EU referendum.

The economy

The Remain claim:"The CBI says that all the trade, investment, jobs and lower prices that come from our economic partnership with Europe is worth £3,000 per year to every household."

The Leave claim:“The EU costs the average UK household as much as £9,265 a year.”

The EU membership fee

The Leave Claim:"Britain sends £350m to Brussels each week [implying £18 billion each year]."

The Remain Claim:"Britain would save just £5.29bn [each year] by leaving the EU."

Immigration

The Leave Claim:"Brexit is the only way we can control immigration."

The Remain Claim:"The free movement of people helps Britons study, work and retire to Europe. A total of 2.2 million Britons live in other EU countries – almost as many as the number of EU citizens living here."

EU laws in the UK

The Leave Claim:"Between 1993 and 2014, 64.7% of UK laws can be deemed to be EU-influenced. EU regulations accounted for 59.3% of all UK law. UK laws implementing EU directives accounted for 5.4%."

The Remain Claim:"The independent House of Commons library found that the real proportion is just 13.2% of our laws."

EU borders and security

The Leave Claim:"The Schengen system forbids countries from carrying out systematic checks on anyone with an EU passport from entering the EU. This makes it much easier for jihadists to enter from the Middle East… outside the EU, we will continue to co-operate with our European partners to fight terrorism and organised crime."

The Remain Claim:"In today’s world, many of the threats to Britain's security are global in nature - like the aggression of Russia, terrorism and cross-border crime. Being in Europe, working with our closest neighbours and partners to tackle these threats, makes Britain safer."

The UK in a Changing Europe views and information are not necessarily reflective of ITV News.