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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Conservative Party Facebook advert altered BBC headline | Conservative Party Facebook advert altered BBC headline |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Conservative Party has said it is reviewing its Facebook advertising after it was accused of misrepresenting a BBC News story. | The Conservative Party has said it is reviewing its Facebook advertising after it was accused of misrepresenting a BBC News story. |
| An advert featured the BBC logo with a headline saying "£14 billion pound cash boost for schools". | An advert featured the BBC logo with a headline saying "£14 billion pound cash boost for schools". |
| But a BBC story linked in the advert said the figure was £7.1bn. | But a BBC story linked in the advert said the figure was £7.1bn. |
| Fact-checking charity Full Fact said political parties should not "misrepresent the work of independent journalists in this way". | Fact-checking charity Full Fact said political parties should not "misrepresent the work of independent journalists in this way". |
| A Conservative Party spokesman said: "It was not our intention to misrepresent by using this headline copy with the news link, where the BBC's £7bn figure is clearly displayed, but we are reviewing how our advert headlines match accompanying links." | A Conservative Party spokesman said: "It was not our intention to misrepresent by using this headline copy with the news link, where the BBC's £7bn figure is clearly displayed, but we are reviewing how our advert headlines match accompanying links." |
| Clicking on the advert took readers to the original story on the BBC News website by Sean Coughlan, where it had the headline "Multi-billion pound cash boost for schools". | Clicking on the advert took readers to the original story on the BBC News website by Sean Coughlan, where it had the headline "Multi-billion pound cash boost for schools". |
| BBC analysis in the story from 30 August queried the government's claims about its additional funding for schools. | BBC analysis in the story from 30 August queried the government's claims about its additional funding for schools. |
| The corporation's head of statistics, Robert Cuffe, explained here that the government was not calculating the spending increase in the usual way. | The corporation's head of statistics, Robert Cuffe, explained here that the government was not calculating the spending increase in the usual way. |
| "Describing this as a £14bn increase would make the government seem more generous than it is in fact being," he wrote. | "Describing this as a £14bn increase would make the government seem more generous than it is in fact being," he wrote. |
| The spending announcement provided an extra £2.6bn next year, £4.8bn the year after that and £7.1bn in 2022-23. | The spending announcement provided an extra £2.6bn next year, £4.8bn the year after that and £7.1bn in 2022-23. |
| Added together that makes £14bn, but it is not how spending increases are normally worked out, Mr Cuffe said. | Added together that makes £14bn, but it is not how spending increases are normally worked out, Mr Cuffe said. |
| Because budgets are normally discussed for individual years, he said the usual practice is to measure the spending increase for one year - usually the last where the increase is the largest. | Because budgets are normally discussed for individual years, he said the usual practice is to measure the spending increase for one year - usually the last where the increase is the largest. |
| Mr Cuffe told the BBC: "Independent experts look at the effect of spending increases on a department's annual budget. | Mr Cuffe told the BBC: "Independent experts look at the effect of spending increases on a department's annual budget. |
| "Adding up those increases over many years exaggerates the government's generosity. It is an old trick of political accountancy that many governments have used." | "Adding up those increases over many years exaggerates the government's generosity. It is an old trick of political accountancy that many governments have used." |
| In his spending review announcement in Parliament on 4 September, Chancellor Sajid Javid used the smaller figure. | In his spending review announcement in Parliament on 4 September, Chancellor Sajid Javid used the smaller figure. |
| He said: "Today we are delivering on our pledge to increase school spending by £7.1 billion by 2022-23, compared with this year." | He said: "Today we are delivering on our pledge to increase school spending by £7.1 billion by 2022-23, compared with this year." |
| Full Fact said that various versions of the advert with the altered headline had received between 222,000 and 510,000 impressions - although these can include multiple viewings by the same person. | Full Fact said that various versions of the advert with the altered headline had received between 222,000 and 510,000 impressions - although these can include multiple viewings by the same person. |
| The Facebook adverts - which started running on 2 September - have since been deactivated. | |
| A BBC spokesman said: "We are looking into this matter." | A BBC spokesman said: "We are looking into this matter." |