Kashim Chowdhury, on trial at Southwark Crown Court on nine fraud counts he denies, is accused of holding five full-time public sector jobs at once. The allegations are untested; if the prosecution's account holds, working from home let him keep each job secret from the other employers.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 12%
- Operator
- Operator 76%
- Investor
- Investor 12%
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence62
Three water companies seek Defra approval for business bans on non-essential water use
South East, Southern and South West Water have applied for bans on non-essential water use that could reach golf clubs, private schools and car washes. Reservoirs stand at 54%, 21% below the autumn norm, and Defra has not yet replied.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives50
- Confidence55
With red diesel almost doubled since February, UK arable farmers ask how to pay for the next crop
Red diesel has almost doubled in price since the Iran conflict began in late February, just as UK arable farmers need it to plant next season's crop. How much growers can afford to put in the ground this autumn will shape domestic food supply when that crop is harvested.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives60
- Confidence45
UK water companies took more than £340m from industrial wastewater they permit and police themselves
UK water companies earned more than £340m last year from industrial wastewater sent under permits they issue and enforce themselves, the Guardian reported. For businesses that discharge to sewers, the investigation exposes a lightly checked consent system at a time of public anger over sewage spills.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives65
- Confidence55
A dry summer helped cut Wales's sewage-spill hours to 800,000 in 2025
Surfers Against Sewage counted more than 800,000 hours of sewage discharge into Welsh waters in 2025, down from more than 970,000 a year earlier. The charity put part of the fall down to a dry summer, so one mild year cannot show that tighter regulation or investment caused it.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives65
- Confidence50
Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith wants Natural England and the Environment Agency abolished in a package the Tories say cuts up to £50,000 off a new home. Until an election, firms still plan against the government's rules and its 28 October Budget.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 12%
- Operator
- Operator 53%
- Investor
- Investor 35%
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives70
- Confidence55
Griffith makes his pledge to scrap a tax every budget depend on a savings rule
Andrew Griffith said a Tory government would aim to scrap at least one tax every budget and would abolish the £2m-plus mansion tax due in 2028. The specific taxes he named, including a packaging scheme that firms pay for, are firmer promises than the per-budget goal, which he made conditional on affordability.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Third-placed Conservatives would fold the Environment Agency and Natural England into Defra
Tory shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith will pledge to scrap the Environment Agency and Natural England and replace two developer obligations with one levy. With the party polling third, the pledges bind no one yet but name the rules a Conservative government would remove.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives70
- Confidence50
Defra rules Tropic's gene-edited non-browning banana is precision bred in England
Defra has ruled that Tropic Biosciences' non-browning banana, made with edits as small as one DNA letter in three gene copies, is precision bred. That puts it outside England's strict GM food rules, though sales still need a separate Food Standards Agency approval.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption20
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives55
- Confidence55
A 50-tree ash pangenome places 16 of its 211 dieback-resistance candidates in dispensable genes
Kew and Forest Research built the first European ash pangenome from 50 trees, then screened more than 1,000 for dieback resistance and found 211 candidate genes, 16 of them in DNA that only some ash carry.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption15
- Hype gap+18
- Incentives58
- Confidence60
British greyhound track deaths per race start rose 77% since the welfare strategy began
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain reports 161 dogs died at the track in 2025, or 0.05% of race starts. A scrape of 1.27 million public race records finds some stadiums logging serious incidents five times as often as others.
Reality
- Evidence54
- Adoption24
- Hype gap+17
- Incentives78
- Confidence47