The numbers game.

The phrase about an arse and an elbow springs to mind this morning after reading these two stories.

Firstly, Gordon Brown has been rapped by an independent watchdog for misleading parliament by using incorrect statistics. The Statistics Commission, part of whose task is to oversee the government’s use of figures, has upheld a complaint from a Tory MP, over the statements that he made about the numbers of people taking up tax credits.

The second is that Gordon Brown has pushed Labour into a 10-point lead, the biggest since he took over as prime minister.

Massaging statistics again? Or was the poll taken in his constituancy perhaps.