http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2010/02/bnps-constitutional-change-means.html

F*** you Liberals.

We’ve seen Shameless so we know what’s going on in Broken Britain (TM).

Karen’s just had a baby.

That nurse who’s shagging Carl just had an abortion.

What more proof do you need?

Vote Palin 2012.

Hilarious.

How can they allow such a huge error to be part of a 20-page policy announcement?

I’ve never voted Tory… because I don’t trust them to place maths at the center of any educational curriculum.

Oh the factor of 10 error again. I hope this was a presenting error, because it would be bloody worrying if the next government actually believed this.

Still, that’s a relief. By the time they’re adults only 1 in 20 girls from these areas have conceived. So much more reassuring, and clearly not a problem.

Basically, if you wonder why people don’t vote, look at this exchange. One party fiddles/messes up (delete according to taste and level of cynicism) some figures which are pretty depressing to make them ten times worse. Other party then attacks party on grounds of expenses and ignores the fact there was an issue. Voters think they are all a bunch of crooks with no interest in real problems, just scoring points of each other.

P.S. If Guido is a Conservative, then I’ll join the Socialist Workers (saw one today – spring must be coming).

#4

Normally I’d agree with you on this kind of thing – who cares if someone screwed a decimal point up – but actually I think this one is quite revealing. This must have been proof-read by several Tories and NONE thought it unlikely that 1 in 2 British girls get pregnant before they turn 18. It shows a staggering level of prejudice against people who live in deprived areas. You don’t just have to be out-of-touch to accept those figures without blinking, you have to have a thoroughly nasty mindset that is utterly dismissive and contemptuous of people with the worst life-chances.

It shows a staggering level of prejudice against people who live in deprived areas.

Up to a point. They also claimed that 19% of British girls in the richest areas were getting pregnant too. What it really shows is that everyone involved in the drafting and proofing of this document was an arts graduate, whose eyes just skipped over the figures in the document because they don’t understand maths.

Which would be more worrying if it had been a shadow Treasury document, but still doesn’t inspire much confidence. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of a staffer being yelled at.

Tim f @4

Exactly.

Glaring gaff that this is and a disturbing interest into Tory perceptions of people in deprived neighbourhoods, I’m sure if the Conservatives do get into power they will perpetuate the terrible Labour policy of making young mothers (16/17/18) work/train, rather than raise their children; not sure how that will sit with the family values blather?