David Prosser: Lies, damned lies and political statistics
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Outlook The Office for National Statistics continues to get it in the neck. After last Friday's humiliation, which saw it publish construction industry figures in the morning that it had to recant in the afternoon, the ONS has now been publicly rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for risking giving the perception that it is not politically neutral.
The UKSA's chairman, Sir Michael Scholar, says that when the ONS published second-quarter growth figures, it accompanied them with a commentary speculating the Royal Wedding and the warm April weather might have depressed growth. Sir Michael said the ONS had provided no evidence this was the case – and handed the Government a possible excuse for poor economic data.
No-one really thinks the ONS is politically biased. But these gaffes are just the latest in a string of foul-ups from the statistics body. And many business figures, in the retail industry, for example, no longer trust its data. If we can't monitor the economy accurately, it makes it all the more difficult to point it in the right direction.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments