False: “The increased homophobia in The Netherlands is caused by uncontrolled immigration and open borders”

AWAITING ELECTION RESULTS WE REPOST OUR MOST QUOTED FACT-CHECK On March the 4th Dutch leader of the right-wing Forum for Democracy Thierry Baudet reacted to a statement by liberal politician Rob Jetten about homophobia in The Netherlands. Baudet stated on Twitter: ,,Jetten’s anger about the increased homophobia in The Netherlands is justified, but he doesn’t…

Mostly true: Italy’s employment rates peaking while youth unemployment at its lowest, claims Italian minister

Danilo Toninelli, Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, made a number of claims the 30th April of 2019 referring to different economic aspects. First, that employment rates are the highest since April 2008. Second, that unemployment has fallen 0.4 points. Third, that unemployment among young people is the lowest in Italy since 2011, and fourth, that…

False: “The Netherlands has the most flexible labour market in Europe”

Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius recently tweeted that the Netherlands has the most flexible labour market in Europe.  Jongerius, MEP for the Labour Party (PvdA) speaks of a ‘flexible labour market’, but what is the exact definition? On March 2017 the University of Amsterdam published a report in which ‘flexible labour market’ is given an understandable…

False: The cost of Irish reunification – £2.7 billion pounds?

With Brexit raising tensions ever higher in the British political landscape, talks of reuniting Ireland and Northern Ireland have surfaced again. In a 2016 document titled ‘Towards a United Ireland’, Irish political party Sinn Fein outlined how the reunification of Ireland and Northern Ireland might not be as costly as is popularly believed. Outlining the…

fact checking

Mostly False: ‘Sustainable thinkers are often the biggest polluters’

On March 7 2019 an article called ‘sustainable thinkers are often the biggest polluters’ was published by the Dutch RTL News. In that article, they link pollution to sustainable thinking. Sustainable thinkers would be above-average polluters. This is what the author of this article wrongly concludes from a research of Peter Kanne, member of I&O…

True: “98% of urban population in the EU is exposed to ozone levels that exceed the WHO-guidelines”

On the 30th of April, an article was posted on the website of Sp.a, the Belgian social democratic party, about air pollution. Kathleen Van Brempt, a Belgian politician and member of the European Parliament, stated in this article that 98% of the EU’s urban population is exposed to ozone levels that exceed WHO guidelines. The…