Регулятор статистики Великобритании осудил правительственные заявления о росте оборонных расходов на 270 млрд фунтов

The watchdog overseeing the use of statistics by public bodies has criticised recent statements concerning defence spending made Whitehall agencies and the recently departed former occupant of 10 Downing Street Defence spending claims made by the Ministry of Defence, the Wales Office and former prime minister Keir Starmer earlier this year were “incorrect and misleading”, the UK Statistics Authority has said. Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge raised concerns about claims from Starmer and the Wales Office that the government was delivering a £270bn “increase” in defence spending over the course of this parliament in a letter to UKSA chair Penny Young sent on 3 June. Cartlidge noted a post published on the official Wales Office X account on 29 May which stated that the government had “delivered a £270bn increase in defence spending over the course of this parliament”. He also pointed to then-PM Starmer saying to the Liaison Committee in March: “We have already committed to 2.5% in 2027, and we will hit that. That means that, in this parliament, we will spend £270bn more on defence than we would otherwise have done.” Cartlidge pointed out that these claims were “factually inaccurate and misleading to the public” as £270bn is the total the government expects to spend on defence over the course of this parliament, “not how much spending will increase by”. Responding this week, Young said the UKSA “agrees that it is incorrect and misleading to describe the £270bn as an increase in defence spending over the course of this parliament, or to describe it as an extra £270bn. The £270bn represents the proposed overall spending on defence over the lifetime of the current parliament, from 2025-26 to 2028-29.” Young said the UKSA also discovered during her investigations that several media articles in June had reported an MoD spokesman saying the government is was spending “an extra £270bn across this parliament”. Related content - Regulator’s review finds government PR opaque on source of stats - Expert body calls for stats training for ministers - Senior stats shake-up with new leaders for ONS and UKSA She said the UKSA has spoken to the Wales Office, which acknowledged the post and told the watchdog that “the figure used was a mistake, and was amended as soon as it was noticed”. On 5 June it posted instead that “the UK government is investing £270bn in defence over this parliament to secure our national security”. Young said this is “a more accurate description of the proposed spend”. She said the Wales Office informed UKSA that it has reviewed its press office lines in relation to this topic, and its quality assurance process for press lines, to ensure that this mistake is not replicated elsewhere. The UKSA also raised the issue with the MoD, which has now “taken steps to ensure that future communications use precise and consistent language when presenting defence spending figures”, Young said. She said statisticians at the MoD told UKSA that “analysts have spoken about the misleading wording with their communications colleagues, to ensure accurate communications on defence spending are used going forward”. Young said the MoD communications team “has in turn communicated this message to wider colleagues who have been working on the release of the Defence Investment Plan, to ensure that misleading lines are not used again”. Young added that the UKSA believes the actions taken by Wales Office and the MoD “should reduce the risk of these misleading statements being used in future public debate”.