Facts
Health Secretary Steve Barclay stated on Sky News that “…one in four cancers are due to smoking.”
Smoking does not cause one in four cancers in the UK, but rather causes one in four cancer deaths, as the The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed to Full Fact.
Action on Smoking and Health estimates that smoking causes 22% of cancer deaths globally.
The Department of Health and Social Care later confirmed to Full Fact that Barclay had meant to say that smoking causes a quarter of deaths from cancer.
Verdict
To his credit, Barclay did correct the record. However, this website contains many examples of when he failed to do so.
We emailed Steve Barclay’s parliamentary office and the DHSC offering them the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.