I joined Russell Quirk, standing in for Mike Graham on The Mike Graham Show this week, for our usual look at some of the numbers and stories behind the headlines.
We covered the debate around disinformation, the Liberal Democrats, immigration and asylum, before inevitably ending up back on Britain’s public finances.
But one question stood out.
Who decides what is “disinformation”?
Who Gets to Decide What Is True?
During the interview, I went back to some of the claims made publicly during Covid.
I gave several examples where figures quoted by politicians, broadcasters or experts were very different from the underlying data, including claims about hospital patients, vaccination status and the modelling around Omicron.
That doesn’t mean every incorrect claim is deliberate misinformation.
But it does highlight a much bigger problem.
Governments can get things wrong. Broadcasters can get things wrong. Experts can get things wrong. And people on social media can get things wrong too.
So who becomes the arbiter of truth?
For me, the answer should always come back to transparency.
Show the evidence. Publish the data. Let people challenge it.
That is far healthier than expecting any government, broadcaster or institution to decide which arguments the public should be allowed to hear.
The Lib Dems, Immigration and Asylum
We also discussed the Liberal Democrats following their conference, including their plans on income tax and their desire for a closer relationship with the European Union.
I said during the interview that I actually support the principle of raising income tax thresholds. The question is how policies such as that are ultimately funded, particularly when Britain is already struggling to balance the books.
The conversation then moved onto immigration and asylum.
My argument was straightforward: Britain needs to know who is entering the country, establish people’s identities and have an effective system for dealing with those who ultimately have no legal right to remain.
That should not be a controversial requirement of a functioning immigration system.
And Finally, Britain’s Finances
We inevitably finished with government borrowing.
I covered the latest public-finance figures in detail in Stat of the Nation earlier this week, so there is little value in repeating all the numbers here.
But the point I made on the programme was simple.
Government income is rising, but spending remains extremely high, the benefits bill continues to increase and debt interest alone has already cost around £50 billion in the first five months of the financial year.
Britain cannot solve its fiscal problems simply by continually looking for more tax revenue.
What government spends matters just as much as what it raises.
✍️ Jamie Jenkins
Stats Jamie | Stats, Facts & Opinions
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With regard to net zero much of what Miliband has said is deliberate misinformation.