Does a fall in the UK's healthy life expectancy mean what you think it means?
More or Less
BBC
4.6 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 27 May 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:
Headlines have claimed that “healthy life expectancy” in the UK has fallen by two years. What does this actually mean?
A new government report estimates that HS2 will cost almost double its original estimate. We ask where the money’s gone.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has reduced VAT on theme parks, aquariums and other summer fun. But will these savings get passed on to the consumer?
And Tim gives a much-anticipated update on his recent marathon.
Contributors: Stuart McDonald - actuary at LCP Health Analytics John Burn-Murdoch - Chief Data Reporter for the Financial Times Kate Lamble - journalist and presenter of ‘Derailed: The story of HS2’ Dan Neidle - founder of Tax Policy Associates
Credits: Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter / Producer: Lizzy McNeill Producers: Tom Colls, Nathan Gower and John McMinn Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
Transcript
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| 0:39.3 | Hello and welcome to more or less, your effortlessly cool guide to the numbers all around us in the news and in life. |
| 0:46.7 | This week, two things that are rarely combined, but maybe they should be, high-speed trains and roller coasters. |
| 0:54.0 | We ask why the budget for HS2 |
| 0:56.1 | keeps overrunning and will also ponder the impact of a temporary VAT cut on roller coasters and other |
| 1:03.2 | fun things. And the team are chasing me for a marathon update, if they can catch me that is. |
| 1:10.4 | But first, loyal listener Alison got in touch |
| 1:14.1 | to ask us to look into recent reports about something called Healthy Life Expectancy. Here's |
| 1:19.7 | the headline from the BBC News story. UK Healthy Life Expectancy falls by two years in past |
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