Facts
Rishi Sunak claimed in a BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg that “because of Brexit, we’ve created freeports in places like Teesside, where there is record investment coming in.”
Freeports “are a special kind of port where normal tax and customs rules do not apply,” explains the Institute for Government (IfG). “These can be airports as well as maritime ports.”
Brexit did not enable the creation of freeports, with the IfG pointing out that “the UK could create freeports as a member of the EU.”
Indeed, The UK hosted seven freeports between 1984 to 2012.
Verdict
Rishi Sunak was misleading BBC viewers.
We emailed Rishi Sunak’s office and Downing Street offering them the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.
Client Journalism
Kuenssberg did not correct Sunak’s claim.
We emailed the BBC Press Office offering them the chance to respond. We received no response.