Claim 74153e20Checked 21 Jul 2026
Not Enough EvidenceOn the truth scale
Inconclusive — not enough public evidence to rate.
“Hannah says that she will have to leave the place where she grew up.”
—Victoria CollinsLiberal DemocratLD / Harpenden and Berkhamsted·Engagements·03 Jun 2026Factual · claimed non public knowledge
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim is about what a private individual (Hannah) said in what appears to be a private communication with her MP. The only evidence is Collins' own account. No independent source — no public statement by Hannah, no interview, no published letter — corroborates Hannah's actual words. We can confirm that Collins *reported* Hannah saying similar things, but we cannot independently verify what Hannah actually said.
Additionally, there is a notable difference between what Collins quoted Hannah as saying in February ("I have never considered living in Harpenden in the future, because it would be far too expensive to buy a place to live") and the PMQs paraphrase ("will have to leave the place where she grew up"). Hannah's reported statement was about not *considering* living there in the future due to cost; Collins' PMQs version frames this as Hannah saying she *will have to leave*. These are related but not identical — one is about future prospects and the other implies forced departure.
However, since the core of the claim rests on a private communication between a constituent and an MP — information that is not public and cannot be independently corroborated or contradicted — the appropriate verdict is not-enough-evidence.
Sources: Parallel Parliament (Westminster Hall debate, 24 Feb 2026, https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2026-02-24/commons/westminster-hall/local-transport-planning-developments); St Albans Times (https://stalbanstimes.co.uk/harpenden/harpenden-mp-challenges-prime-minister-over-housing-targets/); Hemel Today (https://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/opinion/political-opinion-victoria-collins-mp-demands-infrastructure-first-planning-securing-parliament-debate-5618779); Victoria Collins MP website (https://www.victoriacollins.uk/news/article/victoria-collins-mp-invites-prime-minister-to-the-impact-of-housing-targets)
From speech
Q13. This Government’s top-down housing targets, which are about to almost double in my constituency, mean that communities like Redbourn and Tring are about to see huge-scale development while infrastructure is bursting at the seams and a supposedly affordable new build in my patch costs more than £500,000. It is no wonder that Hannah, one of my sixth-formers, says that she can never dream of buying a new home and will have to leave the place where she grew up. Will the Prime Minister urgently review these targets, and come and speak to Hannah and other constituents to see how these top-down targets are not delivering the affordable homes and services we need, nor protecting our precious landscapes?
Sources opened
| [1] | hertsad.co.uk |
| [2] | victoriacollins.uk |
| [3] | victoriacollins.uk |
| [4] | hertsad.co.uk |
| [5] | linkedin.com |
| [6] | hemeltoday.co.uk |
| [7] | stalbanstimes.co.uk |
| [8] | stalbanstimes.co.uk |
| [9] | couchsky.app |
| [10] | parallelparliament.co.uk |