Critics of Miliband’s speech have forgotten the magic words: ‘Check against delivery’
![An idiot: Matthew Hancock thinks Ed Miliband should be censured for something he never said [Image: BBC].](http://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/matthew-hancock-BBC.jpg)
An idiot: Matthew Hancock thinks Ed Miliband should be censured for something he never said [Image: BBC].
Speeches – especially those made by politicians – are checked by several people, not just the author or the person delivering it (these are not necessarily the same person), and even then, the speaker can decide to omit parts or include new information in the moment.
That’s why the words “Check against delivery” appear at the top of every speech issued by political parties to the press. They protect the organisation and its speaker from exactly the sort of criticism currently directed at Mr Miliband by Andrew Dilnot of the UKSA (who should know better) and business minister Matthew Hancock (who made the complaint and therefore, clearly, does not).
Miliband took his information – a claim that four-fifths of all new private-sector jobs created since 2010 are in London – from the Centre for Cities thinktank. Both have stated that they believe the claim to be accurate.
That doesn’t have any bearing on the argument, in fact. The version of the speech received by the press makes it perfectly clear that the statistic is independently-sourced, not an official figure from the Office for National Statistics.
So not only did Mr Miliband not mention it, but there is no official figure against which to compare it. Mr Hancock, Mr Dilnot and the whiners in the news media are attacking him for something he hasn’t done – and that is the only unsurprising aspect of this story.
After all, it isn’t the first time Tories have made false accusations about the Labour Party.
They’re still trying to make us believe the financial crisis was caused by Labour, rather than bankers.
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the sooner these billy liars are out perhaps then britain can rebuild itself but the tories way only rob us of more jobs more monies but picking up up on labour speached by them labour only have to ask cameroooons whot about your speaches oh sorry you used the delete button ops jeff3
Well said