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Dale on London: Still No Correction to Con Cobblers
Yesterday LOL published a quick "doesn't add up" postlinking to Iain Dale's spin on a Bow Group fantasy.
This particular Tory Think Tank (TTT) offering, according to Iain, said that London households lose £2,000 each per annum on grants that London receive. This is of course gobbledy gook.
Sorry to say LOL confused Iain's sometimes sloppy appreciation of facts and figures with the sloppy appreciation of facts and figures in the paragraphs he quoted. Particularly when these contradicted a key point of the report's Executive Summary itself. It seems I was wrong. My profuse apologies to Iain for this error.
Seven LOL Precepts:
1. Nonetheless, sorry to see that he has not updated. I explained here how what Iain has printed is utterly wrong. Here's some more.
2. The problem applies whether it was Iain's own editorialising, which it did look like despite the indent, or something lifted off p 27 of the Tory "think tank" Bow Group report, which it actually is.
3. Did Iain Dale, as a leading blogger and commentator, actually help a couple of sadly illiterate and innumerate city boys write the bloody thing?
4. On pages 3 (Exec Report) and 5 (Within "What does the Mayor Do?) and 7 (The GLA precept) it explains clearly that this £2,000 per household or almost £6 Bn is what Ken's London team RAISES from grants, not the tax BURDEN per household.
5. The grant figure is clearly from national taxes on businesses and personal direct and indirect taxation and not some roof tax on Londoners. That is an utterly mistaken comment. Or deliberate disingenuity.
6. Several comments at Iain's post point out that most of the London precept goes on the Police service and the like. Are the Tory Bow Group calling for Policing, Fire, Flooding etc spending cuts just as the Tory Party at large whine so inaccurately about crime etc?
7. Whether Iain wrote it himself or or not the bit of the tory Bow Group report quoted, re-published by Iain Dale is utter tosh.
LOL feel that Iain should update his post accordingly - or perhaps remove with an explanation that it falls woefully below the standard of work Iain Dale's Diary likes to re-publish.
2 comments:
So you admit you were wrong, yet you expect me to apologise for your stupid mistake. Get real.
My stupid mistake? I've explained. When I looked at the report - the first three mentions of the £2,000 - I found it contradicted the gobbledy gook in your post.
I should have pressed on and found the fourth mention but as it was despite the indent IT DID NOT SEEM TO BE A QUOTE.
I was wrong. I have apologised.
Meanwhile you have something on your blog which is gobbledy gook. A mistake. A gobbledy gook mistake which you know to be one.
A mistake you know about uncorrected becomes a LIE. It matters not who wrote the words - though the prose is similar - it's a lie and you should update the post to point that out.
I apologise, you apologise, he she it apologises. This is what grown ups do.
This is not what Iain Dale does. Sorry to be snitty but you really do deserve it.
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