Title: The truth about welfare spending: Facts or propaganda? - BBC News
Headings: The truth about welfare spending: Facts or propaganda?
The truth about welfare spending: Facts or propaganda?
Forget the number of shopping days till Christmas. We are now just six months away from a general election.
Critics
Alternatives
'Like dreams'

Content: We are now just six months away from a general election. Party strategists are already reviewing their tool-kits: opinion polls, focus groups, ministerial visits, or celebrity endorsements perhaps. But for credibility, nothing beats statistics. It's hard to argue with them. However, in one of the first salvos of the campaign, the Treasury has released a set of figures on welfare spending which are proving controversial. The figures are being sent to all 24 million people in the UK who pay income tax, telling them exactly where their money goes. Taxpayers will therefore learn that very nearly 25% of their bill goes on welfare spending alone. Critics
But the TUC has already dismissed this as "party political propaganda masquerading as neutral information". It said the figures were designed to soften up the electorate for further spending cuts, and by implication, boost the Tory vote.