This morning the Today programme is, as we go to pixel, leading with an exclusive “The BBC understands… seen leaked documents… Universal Credit roll out delayed…” It is also leading news bulletins and on the BBC News website. In Guido’s half-awake decaffeinated state he thought he was dreaming that actually this was all announced yesterday, in parliament by Esther McVey. A quick Google of Hansard confirms that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions did indeed say:

Under the process of managed migration, the roll-out will be slow and measured. It will start not in January 2019, but later in the year. For a further year we will be learning as we go with a small amount of people—maybe 10,000—to ensure that the system is right. The roll-out will then increase from 2020 onwards. It will be slow and measured, and we will adapt and change as we go.

The old saying that the best place to keep a secret is on the floor of the House of Commons appears to still hold true as far as the BBC is concerned. Their exclusive was announced yesterday in parliament and Hansard is hardly a “leaked document”. Why are they hyping it up as a leak?