Don't let hard evidence get in the way of the political narrative!

Britain is going to the dogs! The whole country is being bled dry by benefit scroungers, immigrants and anybody who hasn't been to public school!

At least that seems to be the gist of the government narrative at the moment. Ministers told of fantastical sums being paid to housing benefit claimant in excess of £100,000. When this was fact checked it turned out to be 5 extreme cases and the majority of people claiming are on ultra low incomes and get between £85-£100 a week. But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a good narrative!

The NHS is overburdened by 'health toursits' is another political meme we are sold. Except that when you check the statistics for 2011-12  foreign nationals accounted for 0.01 per cent of the NHS budget! But hey, don't let the evidence get in the way of a good narrative!

Welfare spongers are costing the country a fortune, and living the high life whilst the honest tax payers support them After all just look at ll those people on job seekers allowance! Well, in all fairness, the welfare budget is enormous but job seekers makes up approximately 2.9% of that budget as compared to say pensions which account for approximately 44.5% of that same budget! But hey, don't let the evidence get in the way of a good narrative!

Apparently immigrants are coming over here, taking our jobs and claiming all our benefits. the irony of how these two are supposed to fit together seems lost on most people. In fact a Treasury watchdog has just implied that we need more immigration to support our ageing populations pensions and care. Other reports suggest that working migrants actually net benefit the economies they enter. But, hey why let the facts get in the way of a good narrative!

The point is simple, politicians are as susceptible as anyone to confirmation bias and wilfully or otherwise ignore evidence that goes against the narrative they have embedded in their belief systems. This is systemic and applies equally across the chamber.

Would it be too much to ask for honesty, integrity and actual reference to the facts before we go spouting off our ideologies in public? Apparently it would...because it gets in the way of the narrative!

This sickens and appals me as it should us all. Either we are pre-decided bigots who are unshiftable in attitude regardless of evidence. or we are rational, thoughtful human beings who consider the issues from all sides. I know which I'd rather we were.