“TORTURE numbers, and they'll confess to anything”—so says Gregg
Easterbrook, an American writer. The ministers and political
staff at the Department for Work and Pensions are rapidly
becoming some of the fiercest inquisitors. Over the last few
months, as welfare cuts have started, questionable numbers have
floated out of Iain Duncan Smith’s office into the public debate
like raw sewage. Take the latest example. Yesterday morning, Mr
Duncan Smith claimed that:  Around 1 million people have been
stuck on a working-age benefit for at least three out of the
past four years, despite being judged capable of preparing or
looking for work.  As The Guardian, and separately, Full Fact,
explain here, that claim relies on an extreme sleight of hand.
Mr Duncan Smith appears to be claiming that one million people
who could reasonably be expected to work are choosing not to.
Yet, in reality, that one million includes single mothers who
have children too young to go to school, people who are
seriously ill but may eventually