PM admitted weeks ago the claim was categorically not true
The Prime Minister has today made a claim to parliament that he admitted weeks ago was categorically not true, and promised not to make again.
Boris Johnson said there were more people in work now than there were before the pandemic – despite admitting one month ago that statement was not true.
The false claim was made during Wednesday’s session of Prime Minister’s Questions. He was not asked to withdraw the comment, or issue a correction.
While the number of people on the payroll is up since before Covid, the most recent ONS figures reveal there are currently 32.5 million people in work – that’s around 598,000 below its pre-pandemic level.
Data also shows that while the UK employment rate was largely unchanged on the quarter at 75.5%, it is still below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
During a meeting with the Liaison committee in March, Boris Johnson was reprimanded for falsely quoting the statement nine times in the commons.
Johnson conceded he had recognised those statements were incorrect, and that he had taken steps to correct the record.
Catch up on Wednesday’s full PMQs on the PoliticsJOE Youtube page.
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