Here is the FT article Paul refers to:

LETWIN PLEDGES INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL STATISTICAL SERVICE
By Simon Briscoe. Published: December 9 2004

The shadow chancellor attacked the government for having "a track record of
using statistics to mislead rather than inform people", and said he wanted
the potential for political interference of data removed.

The government's performance should be assessed on the basis of "reliable
and impartial statistics", Mr Letwin said. He proposed an independent
regulator, charged with ensuring compliance with statistical best practice
in all government departments.

Britain would then have "the most independent and transparent statistical
framework in the world, putting it at the forefront of professional and
international best practice", he said. The reputation of government
statisticians has been damaged by a blunders and instances of suspected
manipulation by poli- ticians.
Some have been reported by the Statistics Commission, the non-statutory
watchdog. Mr Letwin said Labour's manifesto pledge to create an "independent
statistical service" had not been delivered. The non-statutory framework,
introduced in 2000, had "done nothing to enhance public confidence in
official statistics". He added: "The public does not trust that the
production and presentation of official statistics is free from political
interference or that it is of intrinsic good quality."

Under his proposals, the existing Office for National Statistics would be
split into two bodies. A National Statistics Office would be established by
statute, reporting directly to parliament and be modelled on the National
Audit Office. The remainder of the ONS would be a Social and Business
Surveys Office, an executive agency of the Cabinet Office, and would take
charge of collecting economic and other data.

The Statistics Commission welcomed the proposals, even though it would be
wound up. Professor David Rhind, its chairman, praised "the explicit
recognition of the importance of an independent statistical service meeting
the needs of decision-makers inside and outside government". The Royal
Statistical Society also supported the need for change, but with concerns
about the detail of the plan
*********************************************

******************************************************
Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
message will go only to the sender of this message.
If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
to [log in to unmask]
*******************************************************