News
Liam O'Dell
Dec 15, 2021
Conservative backbencher Sir Desmond Swayne, known for being sceptical of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact and the government’s measures to combat it, has once again had one of his statistical claims rebuked by journalists.
Mr Swayne, who was one of the Tory MPs to vote against new Covid measures in the Commons on Tuesday, aired unusual remarks about UK road deaths as part of his contribution to the debate in the chamber.
The New Forest West MP told colleagues: “In the end, it comes down to a matter of opinion - a matter of our prejudice - and we are typically capable of organising our lives and making those decisions for ourselves.
“We decide what our risk appetite is, and what we’re prepared to encounter, and what we’re prepared to not – not withstanding the carnage on our roads certainly killing more people than Covid at the moment, some of us still decide to drive. It’s a matter of opinion.”
Yet the latest annual statistics on reported road casualties, published by the government in September, paint a different picture to the one offered up by Mr Swayne.
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An estimated 1,460 road deaths were reported in Great Britain in 2020, and that figure includes the four months when we were in lockdown – April, May, June and November.
Last year’s stat is 17 per cent lower than the one from 2019, and it’s a decrease of more than 20 per cent when looking at the percentage change from 2010.
Meanwhile Covid-19 was mentioned on 69,771 death certificates in England and Wales up to 4 December, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
To put it another way, more than 4,000 people died within 28 days of a positive test (whether you count it by the day the deaths occurred or when they were reported) in the month of November alone.
Again, that’s a higher figure than those who tragically lost their lives last year on the road.
After the inaccuracy was pointed out by Byline Times reporter Adam Bienkov on Twitter, people soon criticised the Tory MP’s comments:
@AdamBienkov @DeborahMeaden even more without MOTs, seat belts , brakes, ABS , hazard lights , drink driving laws, speed limits!— Harry Clarke (@Harry Clarke) 1639500007
@AdamBienkov £82k per year for this, I demand a refund.— Col (@Col) 1639497283
@AdamBienkov How open would he be, do we think, to tougher road safety measures?— Increasingly Bearish (@Increasingly Bearish) 1639499406
@AdamBienkov @danielrembrandt But are they dying *with* a car accident or *of* a car accident?— functionalcore (@functionalcore) 1639518529
@AdamBienkov He really makes me wonder what New Forest West is like if they keep selecting him as their guy.— Peter Dawe (@Peter Dawe) 1639498075
@AdamBienkov I prefer it when he’s asleep. He’s probably more intelligent sleeping. https://t.co/7FcYUeFoQA— Leigh (@Leigh) 1639498900
@AdamBienkov He may (definitely) be wrong, but "just 1,460 deaths on British roads in the whole of 2020" - that's an acceptable number then?— Tim Gamble (@Tim Gamble) 1639498156
Tories: a fact-free, rule-free, sanity-free zone. https://t.co/sI9J7wpqMd— A C Grayling #FBPE 3.5% #Reform #Rejoin #FBPA 🐟 (@A C Grayling #FBPE 3.5% #Reform #Rejoin #FBPA 🐟) 1639557806
Would you like to comment on this? @DesmondSwayne https://t.co/c1c4SsmJ8j— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓) 1639504488
Desmond Swayne just claimed road deaths were "certainly killing more people than Covid at the moment". UK road dea… https://t.co/ONaq07eMmM— Adam Schwarz (@Adam Schwarz) 1639497327
Desmond Swayne reckons that roads are “certainly killing more people than Covid at the moment” - actually on curren… https://t.co/SqsAUEmkGN— Otto English (@Otto English) 1639504252
It isn’t the first time Mr Swayne has been challenged on the legitimacy of his remarks, after he allegedly said in a video – filmed in November and published by Sky News in January – that the UK was “bouncing round at the typical level of deaths for the time of year”.
But we weren’t. ONS data revealed that deaths were 14 per cent above the five-year average at the time of him making those comments.
Indy100 has reached out to Mr Swayne’s parliamentary office for comment.
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