Gordon, can we please have a reference for your wild claims?

Yesterday in PMQs as in all previous editions Gordon Brown reeled off
various statistics. 300 million here, 2 million there, and so on.
There is never any attempt by any party, least of all New Labour, to
justify these claims. When New Labour states something very
categorically, like crime reduced by nn%, who can say at that juncture
whether it's really true or not?

** I posit that most of these claims are spurious ** and would not be
backed up by the facts were these known.

So I propose a system whereby all government ministers have to provide
a reference number whenever they make a claim to have improved
something by stating a statistic.

Thus, in future, a claim such as: "We have reduced unemployment by
34%" would have to be extended to read: "We have reduced unemployment
by 34% - Reference 45762.

Or: "Schools in Britain have enjoyed massive improvements under New
Labour" would become: "Schools in Britain have enjoyed massive
improvements under New Labour - Reference 78349"

The reference number could then be looked up on an official website
which all mainstream parties would confirm is impartial.

If the actual reference diverged from the statement the minister made,
the minister would have to come to parliament to state a retraction or
correction.

That way, some of the wilder claims by New Labour (and for that matter
by the Tories or the Lib Dems should they win power at the next
election) could be brought back down to earth.

MM
.

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