House of CommonsA UK Government minister risked “misleading the public” with claims about Scotland’s water being more polluted than England’s, according to the UK Statistics Authority.
Steve Reed said that “pollution levels in Scotland are worse than they are in England” during a TV interview in July.
Reed then made a bid on social media to back-up his claims, which he made repeatedly in the House of Commons, as well as in broadcast interviews and online.
He was UK environment secretary at the time but is now in charge of housing and local government.
The Scottish Government said Reed’s claims were “inaccurate and misleading”, which has been backed up by the UK’s independent statistics authority on Wednesday.
The authority’s regulation committee, which oversees the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), determined that Reed’s statements risked “misleading the public”.
“In brief, we consider that these statements lacked enough transparency about their sources to be verified, and that the broad evidence did not support them,” a letter from committee chair Dame Carol Propper said.
“Without appropriate discussion of the limitations of some of the more specific figures quoted, they run the risk of misleading the public.”
Dame Carol said that the “authority expects that ministers take care to avoid using data that is overly selective or missing appropriate context”.
“Based on the statements made without discussion of their context, sources, and limitations, there is the potential for people to be misled about English and Scottish water quality and infrastructure,” she said.
“Omitting this kind of information can damage public trust in the data, so we encourage those speaking on behalf of Government to ensure statistical statements are presented clearly and transparently, in a way that supports public understanding.”
SNP environment spokesperson, Seamus Logan said Reed’s comments “belong in the sewer”.
“This is an utter embarrassment for Steve Reed in what was a completely transparent attempt to undermine the good name of Scotland’s world-renowned water supply,” Logan said.
“Sewage Steve took to social media and to the broadcast sofas to slander Scotland’s water, but these fresh revelations mean it’s time for him to treat the independent stats body with respect and come clean on his wild accusations.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has been contacted for comment.
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