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More or Less: Behind the Stats

School spending, excess deaths and billions of animals at Heathrow

More or Less: Behind the Stats

BBC

Business, Mathematics, Science, News Commentary, News

4.63.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is school funding at record levels as the education secretary claimed? Why did the ONS change how they measure excess deaths? Is there a shoplifting epidemic? Did 6.5bn creatures arrive in the UK by plane last year?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Nathan Gower, Perisha Kudhail, Debbie Richford and Olga Smirnova Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: Sarah Hockley Editor: Richard Vadon

Transcript

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0:00.0

If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what would you tell them?

0:06.0

Anonymity is our most valuable gift.

0:09.0

I'm Kristi Young, and in Young again, I'll be asking my guests what honest advice they would give their past self.

0:16.0

Believe it when they say that loving yourself is the answer.

0:20.0

Among those joining me will be Jamie Oliver, Jeda Pinkett Smith and Mel B.

0:24.1

I knew that I had a voice and I knew that I wanted to say certain things and represent certain things.

0:30.0

Young again, with me, Kirstie Young. Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:35.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:40.0

Hello and welcome to more or less. We all weekly look at the numbers in the news and in life and I'm Tim Harford.

0:47.0

It's the last program in this series so we'll be packing in the numbers like ferrets in carry-on luggage.

0:55.1

For example, did 6.5 billion animals travel through Heathrow last year?

1:00.8

And if so, why didn't we notice? Is it true as retailers claim that shoplifting is suddenly

1:07.0

rampant? And why have estimates for excess deaths changed so dramatically? the critics right to cry foul.

1:17.8

But first at the beginning of last week the Education Secretary Gillian Keegan

1:22.2

was interviewed on BBC Breakfast.

1:24.6

The main topic was the government's proposal to ban mobile phones in classrooms, but during

1:29.7

the interview the conversation turned to the funding of schools in England.

1:34.0

Well we are funding our schools at the highest in our history at 60 billion pounds a year

1:40.4

and that is no matter which way you look at it real terms per pupil, you know including inflation

1:45.8

That is the highest we funded our schools

1:47.4

No matter which way you look at it that sounds like a challenge and closer inspection, it turns out that this number doesn't include sixth forms,

1:57.0

and neither does it include capital spending,

...

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