Surprise, surprise! Another broken promise from
Cameron. No, not the "No VAT increase", nor even the "No top-down reorganisation
of the NHS", but the pledge to lead "the most open and transparent government in
the world". How many weeks did that last?
The point is that
this government has been so adept at making false promises and claims, it is
difficult to believe anything Cameron, Osborne and co. say. For instance, many
will remember back in May 2013, that Iain Duncan Smith was reprimanded by the UK
Statistics Authority when he used incorrect figures to promote the effectiveness
of the coalition`s benefits cap on getting people back into work. The figure of
8,000 employed was seen as one of many "ad hoc" figures which was "unsupported
by the official statistics published by the department", but it didn`t prevent
either the government painting a picture of feckless "scroungers", unwilling to
work until the state stopped subsidising them, or the hateful gutter press
filling their front pages with lies. The claim that 878,000 dropped their claims
for sickness benefits rather than face the new medical assessment was also
untrue. As Frances O`Grady rightly said at the time, only politicians "with weak
arguments need to make up" their facts!
Back in 2011, Boris Johnson, unsurprisingly, was criticised by the
chair of the UK Statistics Authority for misusing figures "to publicise the
success" of his transport policies in London, and told, in no uncertain terms,
to "comply with the Code of Practice as a matter of principle"; the use of
dubious figures, Johnson was told, was undermining the public`s faith in data
used by politicians.
Another arch-exponent of untrustworthy figures is, of course,
Michael Gove. Not content with basing much of the evidence for his wholesale and
totally unnecessary transformation of the examination system on his own misuse
of data, he also criticised our state education`s standards by using the famous
Pisa results, comparing educational standards across the developed world. The
only trouble is that these are themselves flawed, not even based on a common
test, but on different students in different countries answering different
questions! Having been reprimanded by OECD for the misuse of data, Gove, in
March 2013, suggested "survey after survey" had revealed "disturbing historical
ignorance" amongst pupils. However, a Freedom of Information request indicated
that there had been only one properly conducted poll, and the others "amateurish
and politically biased", including one carried out by Premier Inn!
As if we needed more evidence of this government`s duplicity
regarding tax avoidance, figures revealed this week show yet more proof that
the speeches about "smelling the coffee", and it being "morally repugnant" is
sheer hypocrisy. A parliamentary committee`s report criticises the number of
"off payroll" arrangements in the public sector. These are where individuals
have their salaries paid to a company, in order to avoid the higher income tax,
and instead pay the much lower corporation tax. The government promised to clamp
down on the practice in May 2012, when it was disclosed that around 2400 of
these arrangements existed; hardly rocket science you would think. Nevertheless,
the National Audit Office identified 2214 still in existence in 2013-14. So much
for the clamp down!
Of course, there are many , many examples; Jeremy Hunt has been found
to be wanting in terms of accuracy when it came to announcing NHS waiting times,
and forced to withdraw his claim that NHS spending had risen in real terms in
2010 and 2011, whilst the Chancellor has been found guilty of attempting to
mislead the public over deficit reduction, as recently as last month. In January
2013 Cameron said the coalition was "paying down Britain`s debts" when the
national debt had risen from £811bn to £1.1trillion! There are too many for
these to be judged as mistakes; it`s clear they are obvious attempts to mislead
us, and all government statistics must be viewed suspiciously.
Unemployment down, we are told, but how many figures fail to include
those who are not receiving unemployment benefit because of government imposed
sanctions, not because they have found work? Thousands of new businesses
created, but how many actually employ workers? Then there`s the inflation
figures. We know how rules were changed so pensions rose only at CPI rates
rather than the RPI rates which are usually a percentage point or so, higher,
because they include housing costs. A very low CPI rate of 1% allows the
government to claim, again falsely, that real wages are rising, but the average
pay figures include the huge rises of the very high earners! The RPI figures
raise eyebrows too. Don`t we read every week about private tenants being forced
to pay massive increases in their rent, or face eviction, as with the recent New
Era estate case? Aren`t rents paid to fat cat landlords, often for accommodation
in appalling condition, sometimes so high tenants spend 40-50% of their total
income on rent? If these huge increases were factored into the RPI calculations,
could 2% really be accurate? Real wages rising? I don`t think so.
With so much data chicanery being used, it`s hard not to reach the
conclusion that politicians take us all for mugs, and think we`ll believe
anything. Let`s hope the May result proves them wrong/.
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