Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) (pictured) was elected to the House of Commons in 1837, and had two spells as prime minister – in 1841, then from 1874 to 1880. He was known as a dandy, a novelist, a brilliant debater, and Britain’s first and only Jewish prime minister. Also, though others are credited with it, he was the most likely originator of the quotation There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. It’s a wonderful saying, and one which is more and more relevant as spin doctors increasingly massage the numbers in the printed, spoken and visual public output of political parties, NGOs, community groups, high profile individuals etc. It’s hard enough for people like me with statistical training and analytical skills to ask the right questions of the numbers; and nigh impossible for the vast majority of people with no such training and skills. Enter a new UK pressure group called Straight Statistics which aims to encourage the proper use of statistical data in the public domain. It’ll report its findings on its website; and also produce reports and hold conferences. Nigel Hawkes, its director, said the group grew from a conviction that misused statistics are detrimental to public knowledge and thus informed debate. Straight Statistics has a massive job to do. I wish it well. I like to think that if Disraeli was alive today he’d be a founding member of it.
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