Cameron warned over GDP slip as watchdog urges review

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The UK Statistics Authority has called for a review into the early release of sensitive economic data after Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to let slip details of Q3 GDP ahead of time.

Senior government ministers had access to the information that the UK economy had expanded by 1% in Q3 on Wednesday morning, 24 hours ahead of official publication. Cameron subsequently told the House of Commons Wednesday afternoon there was "good news" on the way for the UK economy. In a letter to the PM sent yesterday, UK Statistics Authority chair Andrew Dilnot reminded Cameron that recipients of pre-release statistics "must not disclose any suggestion of the size or direction of any trend." "It is our view that the current pre-release access arrangements undermine public confid...

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