Ed Howker’s weekend post about life in Rochdale – and The Spectator’s study of welfare ghettos – has
made the news today. There’s a powerful spread in The Sun, with full and due attribution to
the source. But the Daily Mail also ran the figures, incorrectly attributing them to
the DWP. (We expressed DWP dole figures as a share of ONS population estimates. The resulting ratio only we produced.) We at The Spectator have no doubt that the Daily Mail reporter did actually
visit Rochdale. It’s just that her material looks as if it could have been copied from Ed’s Coffee House post. Here are some coincidental overlaps:
Coffee House source: “Everyone wants ‘the sickness’ [incapacity benefit]. Then you’ve really made it. You don’t have to turn up for work or sign on. Everything is taken care
of.”
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