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Written by rosalind renshaw

A war of words has erupted between housing minister Grant Shapps and his shadow counterpart Jack Dromey, after the latter all but called Shapps a liar.

Dromey has written to the official statistics watchdog calling for an urgent investigation into Shapps’ “consistent misrepresentation and misuse of statistics’ in relation to housing.

In his letter to the UK Statistics Authority, Dromey said: “I am deeply concerned that this casual attitude to accuracy is not only confusing the public but is obstructing genuine public debate.”

But Shapps described the attack as an ‘incomprehensible rant’ and said that the Labour government had done “more to destroy our nation’s homes since the Luftwaffe bombs of World War II”.

In his letter to UK Statistics Authority chairman Andrew Dilnot, Dromey listed six ‘serious misrepresentations of fact’ by Shapps.

One relates to claims by Shapps about the amount of housing lost while New Labour was in power: Shapps variously claimed a loss of 45,000 and 200,000, according to Hansard. Dromey says in his letter: “Aside from the fact that we patently could not have ended up with both 45,000 and 200,000 fewer homes, Government statistics show that we had an additional two million homes in England by May 2010 compared with May 1997.”

Dromey also accuses Shapps of falsely stating that it costs only £150,000 to build your own home, including the land. Other complaints relate to Shapps’ statistics on house building starts, affordable statistics, homeless people, and his use of certain timeframes.

The letter is the second time Labour has tried to get the UK Statistics Authority to scrutinise Shapps’ use of figures. Former housing minister Nick Raynsford wrote to Dilnot’s predecessor, Sir Michael Scholar, making similar points.

Comments

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    Sadly, such fools will let the real fools straight back in, more Labour waste coming. Worst Tory gov in living memory, can't even convince the public of balck and white fact, that Labour ruined it for us spending rather than saving, what hope of putting a hard message over well.

    • 13 June 2012 16:01 PM
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    Has anyone got confidence in Grant Shapps as housing minister?

    Has Localism shafted the planning process?

    Has Community Infrastrucure Levy given Local Planning Authorites the right to tax gains in value on the primary residence?

    What has improved since the meddling with the planning process?

    What a mess! Time for a Government re-shuffle, but who else is there who wouldn't do a worse job?

    • 13 June 2012 15:41 PM
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    It's just handbags!

    • 13 June 2012 10:08 AM
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    "Incomprehensible rant"?
    Having read the letter:
    http://goo.gl/9Cujg
    I see nothing incomprehensible or rantish about it.
    Detailed, yes; authoritative, evidently; pedantic, possibly. But incomprehensible rant? That statement is as much piffle as the other pathetic & offensive soundbite about the Luftwaffe.

    • 13 June 2012 09:31 AM
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    Shapps is a fool. Labour are worse.

    • 13 June 2012 09:16 AM
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    I have to say that I agree that Grant Shapps is definitely very free and lose with his stats.

    He was on Radio 4 this morning comparing the worst quarter of last year to the best quarter of this year touting how clever he was.

    Eventually he admitted that the reason that the growth figures were as impressive as they were was because an old government scheme ended and a new began which ends up killing new home starts at the end of the last scheme and front loading the new scheme.

    Ended up looking like a right proper Charlie if you ask me.

    The "Spin Doctor" mentality of the last Labour government persists I'm afraid.

    • 13 June 2012 09:08 AM
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