Heather Kidd today joined child welfare organisations in condemning the Conservatives for stating that more than 50% of girls in deprived areas become pregnant under the age of 18.
The actual number is only 10% of the claimed number but the Tories highly exaggerated claim is made repeatedly in a document they have published called “Labour’s Two Nations”. The actual proportion of girls falling pregnant in the UK’s poorest areas is only 5.4%.
Heather said “As usual we have an attempt by the Tories to pick on a disadvantaged section of the community without checking their figures. It creates a wholely misleading picture and is extremely unhelpful in providing solutions for a difficult problem.”
When challenged, George Osborne, the Tory Shadow Chancellor, was reported in the Times as being unrepentant about the error.