Thanks for highlighting this shocking abuse of statistics
I applaud Liz Simblet for bringing public attention to the shocking abuse of statistics used by the government about education funding to try and convince people that the sector is not drastically underfunded.
She highlighted all too clearly that it is.
How sad that we cannot trust this government to tell the truth.
In her summing up Liz Simblet wonders whether, “this is typical of Conservative government misinformation”.
As I read this piece I had the same thought and as I turned the pages the first headline to catch my eye was, ‘Number of jobless in region falls by 2,000’. This article painted a mostly rosy picture of falling unemployment and increasing average earnings.
Wonderful, it first appears, however when you consider that anyone employed for a minimum of one hour per week is considered to be employed, the employment statistics become meaningless.
The high number of insecure low paid jobs and zero hour contracts means that, increasingly, working families are suffering poverty. The biggest increase in food bank use in Shrewsbury is by couples both of whom are working.
This is a sad reflection on the current state of our economy.
The same article also stated that average earnings had increased. This use of the word, ‘average’, hardly ever paints a true picture. If the managing director’s salary is doubled whilst the staff receive nothing, the average wage has indeed increased!
I think most workers in the public sector would disagree that their salaries have increased and many have, in real terms since 2010, faced a pay cut.
Add to this the bare-faced lies told about Brexit (easiest trade deals in history, take back control of our borders – which we already have, £350m a week for the NHS, UK flooded with immigrants, etc.) and I would sadly have to conclude that the Conservative government does indeed routinely misinform the electorate.
Christine Jenkins, Shrewsbury
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