Proof that UK government used taxpayers money to lie about poor people

Advertising Standards Authority upholds complaints against DWP/Associated Newspapers regarding'Universal Credit Uncovered' advertising campaign

Adam Chakroborty writes in The Guardian regarding this year's earlier attempt via advertorials by Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to mislead the public regarding the fitness for purpose of Universal Credit:

Mail Online/Metro photo for its DWP-sourced 'Universal Credit Uncovered' series

Throughout its campaign, the DWP would summarise what it called “Myths” about universal credit and then give readers the “Facts”. The ASA [Advertising Standards Authority] looked at three of the claims – and found they weren’t facts at all. They were lies, told by the government to its own taxpayers.....

We stand at the edge of an election campaign, a period traditionally marked by half-truths, plausible fibs and outright partisan lies. Yet even amid the discursive sewage that is about to deluge us, this deceit is far different and vastly more serious. First, that campaign was paid for by taxpayers like you and me. The DWP’s own filings show that £225,000 was paid to the Metro to run ads now declared “misleading”, “unsubstantiated” and “exaggerated”. Almost a quarter of million pounds was taken off us to lie to us....

Approached for comment, the DWP has not offered even an apology to the public, merely saying it is “disappointed with this decision”. It further claims that “we consulted at length with the ASA as we created the adverts”. I asked the obvious follow-up: how then do you explain the fact that you’ve breached so many of its guidelines? There was no response. Nor was there any response on whether the DWP is running any more ad campaigns on UC, as several sources both in and out of Westminster have claimed to me.....

More at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/06/government-universal-credit-deception-asa-taxpayer-funded-features