Statistics rebuke for Tories over ‘not wholly accurate’ claim

CONSERVATIVE leader Kemi Badenoch has been rebuked by the UK statistics watchdog over a ‘‘not wholly accurate’’ claim about government spending on benefits.

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The Tory Party released a document that said that ‘‘for the first time ever, the total welfare bill is now higher than total receipts from income tax’’ after the King’s Speech last month.

Writing to the Opposition leader yesterday, the UK Statistics Authority said that while spending on social security does indeed exceed income tax revenue, ‘‘this is not a recent or first-time occurrence’’.