Of course this would be just as pertinent on the Johnson Liar thread.
https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/universal-credit-boris-johnson-pmqs-people-work-benefit-dwp-false-statement-statistics-authority-1386222?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=ijpA comment made by the Prime Minister about the number of people who are in employment as a result of Universal Credit has been confirmed to be incorrect by the UK Statistics Authority.
Boris Johnson claimed in January that 200,000 people had already found jobs because of the benefit during a session of Prime Minister's Questions after being challenged over its its effect on poverty.
The shadow work and pensions secretary Margaret Greenwood, who sought to fact-check the statement, has now called on the Prime Minister to apologise for his claim which she said was "simply wrong".
“It is vital that the Prime Minister gets his facts straight. Anything less is to let down all of those people who are on Universal Credit," she told i.
Mr Johnson made the comment after Jeremy Corbyn claimed the flagship welfare programme was increasing poverty.
"Universal Credit has in fact succeeded in getting 200,000 people into jobs," Mr Johnson responded at the time, adding: "Contrary to what the right honourable gentleman says, the number of people in poverty has diminished by 400,000 under this Government and wages have been increasing solidly for the last 22 months."
'Misleading'
On hearing the comment, Ms Greenwood was concerned that Mr Johnson's assertion was "misleading" and asked Sir David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, which regulates the reporting of official numbers, to "investigate".
In a letter dated 24 January, she wrote: "I am concerned that an expectation by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that Universal Credit would result in 200,000 more people in work by the time that it has been fully rolled out appears to have been translated by the Prime Minister into something that has already happened."
Ms Greenwood pointed out the rollout was only "over a third of the way through completion" and that the DWP was unable to measure whether it was achieving its claim of getting 200,000 additional people into work because of the new system.
A report from the National Audit Office has said the department "will never be able to measure whether Universal Credit actually leads to 200,000 more people in work, because it cannot isolate the effect of Universal Credit from other economic factors in increasing employment".
In a response sent on 4 February, Sir David confirmed the 200,000 figure would only be true once the rollout of Universal Credit is complete, which has been delayed to 2024.
