A few weeks ago, I was reading the newly-published Modernisers’ Manifesto (pdf) published by Bright Blue and a fact jumped out: ‘London is a tearaway success, responsible for 79 per cent of all private sector jobs growth since 2010’. Startling fact, I though – I’d missed that. But about ten minutes of Googling showed that it wasn’t quite true. The fact was from a report by an IPPR offshoot, the Centre for Cities. It used survey data that went up to 2012, before the jobs boom started. You can find the real figures on the ONS website, and here’s what they show.
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But here’s the thing. This wrong figure was repeated by several Labour Party figures, hoping to find a flaw in the recovery (don’t they know Coffee House does that better than anyone?) Yet some of Labour’s smartest MPs, and Chuka Umunna, repeated this figure.
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