“You pays your money and takes your choice.”
The I Newspaper front page had, in giant headlines, that the Conservative party had “inched ahead in polls after Labour hit by Budget backlash.” It follows an opinion poll by agency BMG saw Labour drop to 28% and Conservatives increasing to 29% amongst voters questioned from the 30th to 31st October, a swing against the Government of 3% since the budget.
The paper neglected to point out that over exactly the same period the Government had increased their lead over the Opposition to 6% having seen their support grow following the Chancellor’s speech. So, pick the figures you want, but the Reform Party get no comfort from either as they had dropped to 17% in both sets of figures. With a General Election probably over 4 years away from now, I do not suppose anyone in any party is particularly bothered at the moment.
You can also decide who said it first, as Mark Twain and Aldous Huxley are both credited with the statement.
Check first, repeat later
Not a London story, but a lesson for everyone to be careful with what you see on the news. The day after the Autumn budget, a national news channel broadcast a tragic story about a farmer who had taken his own life following changes to inheritance tax in the budget. His daughter posted on a farmers’ site on Instagram that he could not cope with the thought his family would not inherit his farm.
It was then placed on X, and a “journalist” from the TV station retweeted it, quoted the report on his TV programme, and that broadcast was recirculated. A very sad tale, with one problem. It was totally false. After legitimate journalists combed the country looking for this sad family and harassed hospitals and police forces, it emerged that no such death happened.
The moral is, do not believe anything you see on social media until there are names and facts. This type of fake news can cause distress to others, including the farming community who, like everyone, face financial pressure. And to journalists, do not publish without checking just for impact.