DiscoverBest of the SpectatorReality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable
Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable

Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable

Update: 2025-11-11
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Britain is facing a quiet crisis — its data is breaking down, and the government’s numbers are increasingly unreliable.

In this episode of Reality Check, economics editor Michael Simmons asks what happens when the state can’t count properly. How can the Bank of England set interest rates or the Treasury balance the books when the data they rely on is wrong? And why are so many “official” statistics now being stripped of their trusted status?




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Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable

Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable