On the basis that a Prime Minister should not be able to mislead his country every time he opens his mouth, here is a list of the Brownies to which we were treated on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. The sheer volume of them is overwhelming: this is carefully woven-together matrix of exaggeration, misrepresentation and outright porkies in order to create a fake picture of prosperity. Here is the by-no-means-exhaustive list, all in the space of less then half an hour.
INTEREST RATES: “Well interest rates in the last world downturn were 15%. I think everybody remembers that terrible time. Interest rates at the moment, the base is 5%.”
You’ll remember this Brownie – we first met it during its debut with Sky News on Friday. Two Brownies at work here. One is the ‘real terms’. He’s not adjusting for inflation – real interest rates are broadly comparable now and then, though there is no data series online.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in