28 Apr 2011

DWP releases incapacity benefit figures AGAIN

How do they get away with it? Byers in his time was famed for re-announcing good news, but Chris Grayling manages to recycle the IB story time and again.

Thus the BBC, for instance:
Three-quarters of people who apply for sickness benefit are found fit to work or drop their claims before they are completed, official figures show.
At the end of their story they tell us that "the DWP figures cover the period from 27 October 2008 - when ESA was introduced by the former Labour government - to 31 August 2010". Nothing new there then. But the message remains utterly consistent, so someone at the DWP has learned from Labour the tactic of repetition, repetition, repetition.

Of the 87 comments it has published, the BBC has chosen three as Editors' Picks. And all three oppose the new programme - how surprising is that?!

Still, the government's got coverage in the Mail and the Sun - the Sun even calling them "shock figures"!

Good to see the campaign rolling on.

2 comments:

Homer Doh!! Simpson said...

maybe the government would like to publish the number of MPs who make claims that are disallowed would be surprised at any figure under 99% putting in false claims, which is a hell of a lot lower than the false ESA/DLA claims figures

Homer Doh!! Simpson said...

SORRY I meant higher meds having that confusing effect again