How Osborne’s ‘deficit halved’ claim backfired  

So – how did it go? Yesterday, Tory HQ yesterday issued a poster with the misleading claim that the deficit had been ‘halved’ where in fact the reduction has been closer to a third (see below). In election campaigns, a ‘porkie*’ is introduced in stages. It debuts when dropped into a speech or article. If no one complains, it gets used again with a bit more boldness. And if there’s still no pushback, it’ll be used bigger – say, on a poster. As it was with Labour’s £35bn Tory cuts porkie, so it is with Osborne’s ‘halved the deficit’ porkie.

But judging by today’s newspapers, the ‘poster’ stage of this porkie seems to have gone rather badly.

“Fib! Fury over Tory poster claim that party has ‘halved the deficit’” says the Daily Mail. Its deputy editor, Tony Gallagher, has warned HM Treasury that this is how his newspaper will treat spin – from any party…

“Tories accused of lying in campaign poster that claims deficit has halved” says