The head of the statistics watchdog is standing by his criticism of Boris Johnson’s Brexit article despite the Foreign Secretary’s aides claiming he was “absolutely fine” with the piece.
Sir David Norgrove wrote to Mr Johnson saying he was “surprised and disappointed” that he had revived the widely-discredited referendum pledge that up to £350 million a week extra could be spent on the NHS after Brexit and said it was a “clear misuse” of official figures.
A letter sent by Sir David Norgrove to Boris Johnson saying he is “surprised and disappointed” that he has revived the widely-discredited pledge that up to £350 million a week extra could be spent on the NHS after Brexit
The Foreign Secretary’s spokesman said later that the two men had spoken and insisted Sir David was complaining about the headline on the newspaper article rather than the Foreign Secretary’s words.
But a spokesman for the UK Statistics Authority said: “Sir David Norgrove does not believe the issues lie solely with the headlines. He has not changed the conclusion set out in his letter to the Foreign Secretary.”
Mr Johnson revisited the £350m claim in a 4,000-word article for the Daily Telegraph setting out the direction he wants Brexit to take.
Sir David Norgrove (Jonathan Brady/PA)
After the watchdog published its criticism, a spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “Boris has spoken to Norgrove and he has made clear that he was complaining about the headlines and not Boris’ piece and, in fact, admitted that Boris’ wording in the piece was absolutely fine.”
It is not the first time the £350 million figure has been disputed by the Authority.
The watchdog initially warned Vote Leave the number lacked “clarity” because it referred only to the UK’s gross annual contribution and did not take into account Britain’s rebate or money that comes back from the EU.
It went on to rebuke the group for continuing to use the “misleading” figure during the referendum campaign, saying it was “disappointed” by the approach.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “We stand by what was said on the call.”