Stats Chief tells Cameron and Hunt ‘stop saying NHS spending is up’

An auspicious start to a big day for the Tory Party, as David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt are told by the head of the UK Statistics Authority Andrew Dilnot to stop claiming that NHS spending has increased, when it hasn’t. There’s a word for repeatedly saying something which isn’t true, isn’t there? The word escapes me…

According to The Telegraph:

“In a letter to Mr Hunt, which was copied to the Cabinet Secretary, Mr Dilnot said a detailed analysis of the best-available Treasury data suggested that real-terms health spending was lower in 2011/12 than in 2009/10.

At best, he concluded, because of the small size of the changes and uncertainties surrounding them, it might be fairer to say spending had “changed very little” under the Coalition.”

What better time to apologise for misleading the public – and for cutting the NHS, not the deficit – than on the day of the Autumn Statement?

Update: Despite being told to stop pretending that NHS spending has gone up, the Tory website still claims:

You can’t trust the Tories with the NHS. Or the truth, it seems…