Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 11, 2025 · 12 MIN

Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable

from Best of the Spectator

Britain is facing a quiet crisis — its data is breaking down, and the government’s numbers are increasingly unreliable.In this episode of Reality Check, economics editor Michael Simmons asks what happens when the state can’t count properly. How can the Bank of England set interest rates or the Treasury balance the books when the data they rely on is wrong? And why are so many “official” statistics now being stripped of their trusted status? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain is facing a quiet crisis — its data is breaking down, and the government’s numbers are increasingly unreliable.In this episode of Reality Check, economics editor Michael Simmons asks what happens when the state can’t count properly. How can the Bank of England set interest rates or the Treasury balance the books when the data they rely on is wrong? And why are so many “official” statistics now being stripped of their trusted status? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NOW PLAYING

Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable

0:00 12:08

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Best of the Spectator?

This episode is 12 minutes long.

When was this Best of the Spectator episode published?

This episode was published on November 11, 2025.

What is this episode about?

Britain is facing a quiet crisis — its data is breaking down, and the government’s numbers are increasingly unreliable.In this episode of Reality Check, economics editor Michael Simmons asks what happens when the state can’t count properly. How can...

Can I download this Best of the Spectator episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!