Theresa May faces accusations of twisting reality as she tweeted that 1 million people have been lifted out of “absolute poverty” since the Tories gained power. The PM was branded “deluded” over the state of Britain, on Twitter.
The Tory leader’s tweet on Friday was met with an angry response by people claiming she was being misleading. Some on Twitter suggested the PM is living in a parallel universe, while others accused her of shirking responsibility to her citizens.
May’s claim comes as newly-released government figures from 2016-17 reveal that 100,000 more children are in poverty compared to the previous 12 months. There are now 4.1 million children living in poverty compared to 4 million the year before. There are also around 1.5 million more under-18s expected to live in households below the relative poverty line by 2022.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (OFS) also revealed on Wednesday that unemployment in the UK unexpectedly fell between November and January. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, however, said that while the number may indeed have dropped, the number of people in precarious zero-hour contracts has increased five-fold over the past eight years. It also revealed that British workers are earning less than they did in 2010, and that one in eight are now living in poverty.
The latest rebukes comes after the PM was accused of twice misleading the public over figures on police spending. During a Commons session on Wednesday, May reiterated claims of the government spending £450 million on police forces. She doubled down on her position despite it being officially debunked the day before by the UK Statistics Authority.
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