Conduct Of The Hon Member For Oldham West

EDM number 852 in 1990-91, proposed by Patrick Nicholls on 16/05/1991.

That this House notes that the honourable Member for Oldham West commenting on the first report of the Social Security Committee, Low Income Statistics, says that the average income of the poorest 10 per cent. of the population has dropped by 6 per cent. during the Thatcher years; notes that he inaccurately quotes the figure of 6.2 per cent. at Appendix 2 to the report, which refers to analyses by decile group mean; notes that at page xii of the report, `mean' is described as a `misleading indicator' and is otherwise disapproved; notes that page xiv shows an increase of 9.5 per cent.; notes that this point was raised and clarified at the Social Security Committee press conference which the honourable Member did not trouble to attend; notes from paragraph 15 that `Real disposable incomes grew by more than 30 per cent. between 1979 and 1988, with increases in real income being seen at all levels of the income scale. Particularly large increases were seen in the higher income deciles. Against this, the median income of the poorest decile rose by 9.5'; notes that the honourable Member fundamentally distorts to his own advantage the findings of an all-party report either through failure to check the facts or a desire to mislead the public; and calls upon him to act with more responsibility and restraint when dealing with material in a way calculated to distress, on entirely false premises, the most vulnerable sections of society.

This motion has been signed by a total of 3 MPs.