Scotland needs a watchdog on dodgy statistics – Brian Wilson

There’s a fine Radio Four programme called More or Less which dissects dodgy statistics, some of them political. It’s the kind of thing Scottish broadcasting could usefully do but never does.

BBC Scotland should make a 'More or Less' style programme to explain the statistical facts (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

This week, More or Less took Boris Johnson to task for two oft-repeated claims. First, the one about there being more people in the workforce than pre-pandemic. Only if you don’t count the lost army of self-employed, the statisticians concluded.

Then we had the one about crime falling by 14 per cent. Only if you don’t count fraud as a crime, said the statisticians. Include it and crime has risen by 14 per cent. And why wouldn’t you include booming 21st century fraud, other than to grossly mislead?

In the entirely unlikely event of BBC Radio Scotland creating a similar programme, there would be no shortage of material. The current favourite is to claim repeatedly the UK government has cut Holyrood’s budget by 5.1 per cent. (Precision always helps lend spurious credibility).

More or Less would give that one short shrift. The comparison used by SNP ministers includes all the emergency spending related to Covid which has obviously reduced for 2022-23 though could be repeated if the same emergency needs arose. In other words, an entirely misleading comparison.

The cruel point is that the bogus 5.1 figure is used mainly to justify the treatment of Scottish local government, the cuts to which have been a long-term process over 14 years.

A Scottish More or Less could expose that one also. But let’s have another phone-in instead.

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