Despite an ongoing holier-than-thou campaign about truth in politics, this morning Labour has been slammed by fact-checkers for continuing to publish statistics claiming the average household will be “£2,620 worse off” as a result of the “cost of living crisis”. This calculation is, in fact, 274% off the real figure…

On 8 April, FullFact first called out this statistic, labelling it as false as it’s “based on unreliable assumptions, and it excludes wages and benefits, which are rising. Official estimates suggest that the average household will be roughly £700 worse off in 2022/23.” Despite FullFact contacting Sir Keir’s office about the claim at the time, they received no response, and the party has refused to share full details of how its estimates were calculated.

Today the website’s had to redouble its fact-checking efforts as it emerges not only is the party unable – or refusing – to justify the sums, Labour HQ is actively selling the leaflet to local election campaigns with the figure featuring prominently. The leaflets have also been slammed by some on the left of the party for having “final demand” stamped on the envelope…

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was censured for having repeated the claim on Facebook since FullFact previously called the party out, and they note the party has pushed out at least four active Facebook adverts since they were contacted about the inaccuracy. At this time Guido turns to the words of the Right Honourable leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition spoken in the Commons just yesterday: “honesty, integrity and telling the truth matter in our politics. That is not a principle that I or the Labour party have a special claim to. It is a British principle.”