Ben Butcher
@bienbutcher
Followers
1K
Following
4K
Media
1K
Statuses
7K
Data Editor @Telegraph || Formerly fact-checker @BBCRealityCheck and News Analysis || Tweets my views, no one elses
Joined April 2010
🇮🇱 Why are the attacks being likened to "Israel's 9-11"? . In terms of deaths relative to the population, the 260 death toll currently being given for the Reim musical festival alone makes this the deadliest terror attack recorded by western country in modern history.
16
152
323
📉Down 20% from same point last year. 📈Or you could look at is 100% higher than same point in 2021. 📈Or even 300% higher than same point in 2020.
Speaking in Dover about illegal migration, Rishi Sunak says that "our plan is starting to work". He says Channel crossings by asylum seekers have fallen 20% this year while illegal entry to Europe as a whole is up 30%.
3
13
83
👮 We'll likely find out if the Govt's "20,000 police officers" by March '23 target has been met in the coming weeks. But no matter how you spin it, police forces are likely to be in a worse state than they were a decade ago.
4
34
72
✨ Got married a few weeks ago, followed by ten glorious days in Sardinia with the new wife Sophie Loeffler-Butcher. or Sophie Butcher. or Ben Loeffler (still working on that). When people say it is the best day of their life, they're not kidding. Now back to numbers.
14
0
60
📅🥱 It has been extraordinarily busy couple of weeks for the @Telegraph data team as we approach the election!. We're a relatively small team of just 3 data journos so don't always have the time to share our successes - so here are some things we've achieved over the past week:.
2
9
56
Is it just me, or is he literally describing a social occasion?.
"This wasn't a social occasion, it was staff having a drink after meetings" . Deputy PM Dominic Raab defends a new photo showing the PM and colleagues having a gathering in the No 10 garden during lockdown.
5
9
42
In July 2018, the Home Office was told that some #asylum accommodation was vermin-infested in the border report. In November, they still don't know where it is despite asking - @YvetteCooperMP replies "do you know how lame that sounds". another heated Home Affairs Cttee.
0
12
31
Astonishing that for a month and a half, @BritishGas customers have been unable to see gas/elec usage/spending on their app. All this a few days before they take hundreds of pounds extra a yr. Customers NEED to know if energy saving measures are having impact BEFORE the rise!
19
2
35
The 700 deaths reported would also make this the worst year for Israeli deaths in the last twenty years of conflict, by some margin. For Palestinians (and the 500 deaths, on top of other 2023 deaths), it would be their sixth worst in recent history.
4
4
35
Paying Boris Johnson £200k for a speech when all you need to do is get AI to write it. 🐱I for one am feeling bloody patriotic about cats today.
3
5
29
🌽Food crisis in four charts🌽: . 🇷🇺 Russia and 🇺🇦 Ukraine export around 15% of all cereals globally, according to UN Comtrade. In particular, they represent a significant amount of imports for some v large countries, including 🇵🇰 Pakistan, 🇪🇬 Egypt and 🇹🇷 Turkey
3
27
27
It has been a really, really tough year. People I never thought would or could struggle with mental health have been talking about it in a way I never thought they would. I've looked at the impact covid has had and how the MH system has coped with it.
5
7
27
Where is inflation coming from? . ⛽️🪑Clearly driven by fuel and supply-shortage products like cars and furniture. 🧑🍳But for the first time in this cost-of-living crisis, food inflation is higher than the overall CPI rate
3
8
24
We FOI'ed a minister who said they'd received letters saying universities were banning books. That's a very emotive claim. One book on Holocaust denial had been restricted at one uni. Not banned. So, again, it needs reasoned debate not emotive claims.
1
4
19
And it was the worst month on record for cancer waits. The most important target - the 2 months between an urgent GP appointment + first treatment - has been missed by a mile. 32% of patients are now waiting more than two months in that vital early stage of cancers.
1
10
24
Meet Finsbury, our new cat 🐈 He is too precious for this world.
3
0
21
🏆 One last bit of #Oscars2023 data jamming with @GabriellaSwerl on the ceremony's trend towards rewarding older actors. Now to shut down my creepy dataset with actors ages, gender and ethnicity until next award season. 💻.
5
1
20
🚨 It has been one year since Rishi Sunak announced his 5 pledges. 🏆 The Telegraph scorecard is in - and just one of those pledges has truly been met.
6
4
20
🏭We emit <1% of CO2 each year (but 4.5% of all historic emissions) .🌴Climate vulnerable V20 nations have emitted just <1% of all historic CO2.🇨🇳 In 8yrs, China has exceeded UK historic emissions . My data analysis on the difficulties of "who should pay".
5
8
18
#XR back again at Oxford Circus - police not taking any chances. Around 50 coppers blocking access
9
4
18
Tune in now for what will probably be the best paper review in history
19
4
19
Sometimes you have to keep checking a graphic over-and-over because the data seems so extraordinary. This is every day of rainfall at Koln-Bonn weather station from 1950-2021. The red dot is 14 July 2021. The record wasn't broken, it was smashed.
1
1
17
Proud of this one - hours of FOI inputting, research and interviews, masterfully edited by @rachelschraer
2
4
17
Been busy this week looking at the Indian variant with @alex_jay_clark . In just 40 days, the number of Indian cases has eclipsed the total number of South African cases seen in the 150 days since that was first detected. It's clearly spreading fast - similar to the Kent variant
4
8
16
And just another classic problem with rail in this country. Are we offering you a substandard service which will take twice as long as usual? Yep. Will we charge you full price for it? You betcha . @greateranglia
1
1
14
Murph is wearing his rainbow tie today because he knows there's hope and supports our care staff
3
0
15
How much do train driver earn? . About twice the national median average and just a little bit less than the average medical practitioner, according to the ONS. In 2021, that worked out at about £59,198 for a full-time employee.
5
10
15
Today's #Census2021 release is probably one of the most important so far - for the first time, we have a clear view of the #LGBT+ communities across England and Wales. Top lines - 3.2% identifying as LGB+ and 0.5% as non-cisgendered.
7
6
12
💰A very quick overlook at average full-time pay amongst people working today (and later in the week). Clearly a lot of real-terms cuts - but not everyone has been hit as badly as other.
4
7
15
@RobBurl First job at the BBC was as a runner on your team; always made us feel involved in the process and gave us opportunities with paper producing!.
0
1
14
Today, @MattHancock will say #AntibioticResistance is as big of a threat to humanity as #ClimateChange - this echoes @CMO_England Dame Sally Davies claim that it could "put medicine back to the dark ages." . Myself and @thatandywalker looked at the stats:
2
9
11
Truth in politics matters. If we keep repeating something, we start to believe it. This stops us from seeing what can be done better. I've been proud to work for the team whose purpose it is to explain and correct; so the public can be informed and make decision based on that.
0
1
14
The great, unspoken political rivalry
So @bienbutcher alerted me to this tense exchange between Andrew Boff and Sadiq Khan earlier - worth sticking to the end
3
17
11
🚨🏘️ Some depressing data analysis done for visuals in a weekend housing piece. House prices in Kensington now up to 38 times higher than the average salary. But head up to Copeland or Hyndburn and it is just 4.5 times higher
1
2
12
#LordDubs is using his #Lab18 conference speech to talk about refugees in the UK and asks for people to put pressure on MPs to do more - here is something I did with @BBCMarkEaston on where refugees are going in the UK
0
6
11
In this video, I use my arms a lot to talk about forming a new government. Thank you to @SarahGlatte and @Jacqui_Galvin for making me pretty.
3
3
12
Dead keen to see what lovely little number was bought by Dom Raab from Anthropologie for £580. 👗💃. Like genuinely, how is their public spending in a upscale high-street fashion brand?
1
1
12
🚨 Last year saw a record number of people waiting over 3 months for cancer treatment from the point of receiving an urgent GP referral. 23,400 waited over 104 days, up from 9,025 in 2019.
4
13
10
My piece today has been ranked as the fifth most important thing to read today about coronavirus, so when you've finished with the others give it a go
4
2
11
Bloody hell, today is exactly two years since I started working at Beeb with my first shift at #Marr.
2
0
12
🚨🖥️ Between now and election day, our brilliant data science team will be plugging in the latest polling and projecting it nationally - giving us a sense of where the election is going. Their first forecast: .🟥 Labour: 446.🟦 Cons: 86.
5
4
12
🚨It's a big moment for #Cambridge admissions, as our investigation shows that the success rate for state school pupils is now higher than for independent school students. The reversal of the trend over the past decade is significant, halting a x-hundred year trend.
4
6
11
Been off for 10 days - so interesting to catch up with data I genuinely have switched off from for the period. Looking at is London and - that ICU/death data is looking pretty good. Hospital admissions are peaking (although data i'm using won't show for couple of days)
2
2
12
It's also worth looking at overlapping free speech laws. Unis already legally have to promote free speech. They also have to ensure extremism is monitored. This means some Muslim pupils shy away from debate/speakers, according to SOAS research.
1
2
9
"But that dedication to universal themes and catchy tunes is also what makes them timeless, and a source of joy in anxious times." Great analysis on why #ABBA are just the best
2
1
10
🚨 A record 1.4m visas were handed out in 2022. An unsurprising consequence of Brexit (EU citizens need visas now!) and also a hugely generous couple of years for very specific groups, notably 🇭🇰Hong Kong and 🇺🇦Ukraine. Some other interesting trends.
1
8
11
"You don’t see their bylines on their work in the same way that you do for reporters, but if you see an illuminating and well-sourced graph. you’ll probably have one of these two to thank.". IMO data journos should get a byline if they spend a 1/2 day researching/making chart.
Covid statistics and the era of hyper-scrutiny - my blog on the evolution of data journalism
1
0
12
Full-story here. Another by-line with @charleshymas, who is the data journalists dream of being incredibly prescriptive of what he is looking for in the stats (and believes you when you say it isn't there!) .
0
5
11
🚨❄️NEW | Today we launch our new NHS Winter Crisis tracker. Soaring flu rates, strikes, ambulance delays and burgeoning backlogs mean that the #NHS is facing an immensely tough winter. Check out how your trust is dealing with it.
3
5
11
🚑 Ambulance responses remain 10 minutes longer than in July 2018.
⏱ Faster ambulance responses.🚑 800 new ambulances. Part of our plan to help you get the care you need, when you need it.
1
4
4
🚨 Our preview of tomorrow's Home Office stats which are likely to show that the number of unprocessed asylum-seekers is likely to cross 150k for first time. At the same point last year it was 100k.
3
5
11
Goodbye to the 17 local authority districts being merged into three today, causing chaos for postcode lookups across the land 👋.
2
0
10
0
4
10
Broke: drinking £6 hipster pint because of social pressure. Woke: drinking £6 hipster pint because you're saving a local business.
0
0
10
This phenomena is interesting - 491k students came to the UK and they bought 136k dependents. 🇳🇬For Nigerians, for every student there was one dependent. I believe the Home Sec has said they're looking at why some ratios are so high.
1
4
9
A couple of years ago myself and @rachelschraer FOI'ed all unis to find out the scale of the issue. Yes - there are cases of it happening. Yes - thousands of events do not get blocked. Its important to see the full picture on this topic .
1
4
10
Our first interactive of 2022 - take a look at how much pressure your NHS Trust is under from covid - with @alex_jay_clark and @brunoriddy
1
4
10
🏠Our latest dive into census data looks at how a 40-year goal to increase home ownership is slowly slipping away. In it's place - with a decimated social housing sector - is a generation of private renters. - with @GabriellaSwerl .
1
3
10
My latest piece looking at whether Bournemouth saw a coronavirus spike, as some feared it might. The answer is that it has increased, but only by a tiny bit (when compared with Leicester or Blackburn) .
5
0
10
Vaccine data for England now being released weekly. It shows that 521,594 people in England have received their first dose between 8 December and 20 December. Of which:. - 366,715 were over 80 years old - around13% of that age group. - 154,879 were 16-79 - 0.4% of group.
3
7
10
Clearheaded analysis from @benfarmerDT and @sneweyy . We've been at the start of these waves before, but we're still in a good position.
2
4
9
🚨Legal self-isolation ends today.🚨. Collectively in England, people who've reported testing positive (should) have spent around: . 📅 145m days isolating.⏰3.5bn hours. For context, that means we could've watched Shrek (2001), some 2.3bn times.💚.
0
1
9
📅 At September 2022, there were 145k FTE police officers which - to be fair - is 19k more than in 2019 when the target was set. But if they hit the target, police will still be smaller than in 2010. And per capita, the current situation is 8% down from when Tories started
2
5
9
This is the result of six months of FOI'ing police forces across England and Wales to try and get a better understanding of knife crime - the result is the most complete picture of what is going on .
1
1
10
🤑 Great #FOI work from @alex_jay_clark, showing how students are being shafted in the #CostofLiving crisis. Rents for halls at some unis up a fifth in four years:. ⬆️ UCL: £7,726 to £9,177 .⬆️ Glagow: £5,065 to £6,125.⬆️ Leeds: £5,335 to £6,335.
0
1
9
The #LondonAssembly is the sassiest assembly in the UK. I have never seen so much eye-rolling by grown humans.
1
1
9
The Queue is growing. 3 miles at 10am. 3.7 miles just over an hour later. At this rate, the queue will be 714 miles by 6:00pm. #ddj
1
4
8
I've done the same thing for London. Hospital rates now at mid-Feb level and higher than the rates seen in the Delta/post-freedom day spike. How much higher will that go? #omicron
0
6
9
Just finished first couple of chapters of @BarristerSecret - so far, one of the best-written, passionate non-fictions I've read in a long time.
3
0
8
. pay isn't what it used to be. 💰 Like most public sector jobs, pay has been frozen, unfrozen, then frozen again over the past decade. A major restructure to new recruits dented their pay badly, but experienced officers haven't come off well.
1
5
8
📈 There have been a lot of polls flying around today - so for the record, we'll throw our data science team's forecast into the mix!
0
2
8
👰🤵♀️ Another fascinating data drop from @ONS on the #census2021 - this time on marriage. Figures show that >30% of people aged over-50 have never been married in Lambeth, Islington and Hackney. Compared to just 7% in North Kesteven and Hart.
1
1
8
🚨📈 @meikeeijsberg joined the data team two days before the election was called - but has pulled off in my opinion one of the best data takes of todays dramatic election. Jam packed full of clear analysis and striking visuals!.
0
0
9
Warning. The #MattHancock app loads video introduction which starts with the words "Hi I'm Matt Hancock. " upon opening it. So make sure your phone is muted, unless you want everyone to know you're using the Matt Hancock app.
0
0
8
🚨 In 2023, some 74.9% of the £47.3 donations received by the Conservative Party were just ten individuals. This reliance on mega-donors was up from 40% last year and the highest since these records began.
1
6
7
Free speech at unis is back in the news as fines might be levied against those who block speakers. This isn't the first time that the issues has come up.
1
5
5
Our NHS winter pressure tracker has been updated - and there is a new metric alert 🔥🚨. You can now find out your local hospital waiting times and A&E times to get an idea of how long-term pressures have changed. @brunoriddy @alex_jay_clark
2
5
7
We've been "sleepwalking" without a social care plan for past five years, says head of @1adass . Can't recruit enough staff, turnover too high and pay needs to increase.
0
4
8
Sarah Evarard's murderer was identified as the main suspect in a flashing case in 2015, but the case was eventually shelved and "no further action" was taken - this outcome is far from unusual. Latest from me
1
0
8
Today the cost of living crisis escalates. We've launched our #CostofLiving tracker today, using mortgage, inflation, fuel and other data sources to monitor how the cost of living has spiralled over the past two years. And April does not look good. #CostOfLivingCrisis
3
9
8
👍Positive thing 👍. 🛏️ICU beds remain low - less than 10% of them currently have patients with covid in. During previous waves, it got as high as 75% of ICU beds occupied with covid patients.
2
3
7
👨🏫Less than half of a teachers workload is spent actually teaching - that is what the government says they want to tackle - via @LouisaClarence . UCL research from 2019 shows that planning, admin and marking takes up collectively around 20 additional hours a week.
2
3
8
🚨 👮 Up to half of all thefts are closed within 48 hours with no suspects identified, our FOI investigation shows. Over the past five years, the average length of unsuccessful theft investigations has fallen by a third. - with @charleshymas .
3
2
8
Been reliably informed that my and @rachelschraer piece on free speech at universities is referenced at an NUS training course of Prevent.
2
1
8
It's worth looking at South Northamptonshire, which @sangerinstitute has identified as one of the first #Omicron hotspots. They saw an explosion in cases and currently has the highest case rates in England. but is there a peak going on there?
2
5
7
We've updated our epic #NHS tracker. And this chart is the chart of the day - for the first time on record, 7m patients are waiting for a hospital appointment. As winter approaches things are getting worse, not better.🧵
4
5
6
Always good fun the Daily T is!.
Manifestos, debates and a Reform surge - what are the numbers saying at the end of this week? @bienbutcher and @DominicPenna identify the seats and stats to watch. Plus, @thomgibbs reveals who the Nigel Farage of the Euros is. 🎧 Listen from 5pm ⬇️.
0
2
8
Public transport feeling busier this week? Well that's because they are.🚊. But we're barely up to pre-Plan B levels yet - and tube usage could still be half of what it was in March 2020, according to @transportgovuk data. Enjoy it whilst it lasts😢
0
6
8
Sir Mark Rowley says that all burglaries will be attended by an officer - with the proportion attended having dropped to 50%. But the @metpoliceuk told me in an FOI request (2 months ag) that they don't record officer attendances to burglaries, so odd how he knows that😅
1
3
7
And this varies massively force to force. Cleveland are the biggest losers - ⬇️ 17%.Durham ⬇️ 15%.Northumbria ⬇️ 14%. Norfolk ⬆️ 13%.Cambridgeshire ⬆️ 12%.Surrey ⬆️ 12%. You can see the full changes by force in the piece.
2
6
8
'Vote SNP, get Conservative', says Dugdale. SNP backbenchers loved that one, don't think Labour will use that one again #FMQs.
0
15
8
Imminent recession and N-Dubz. it really is starting to feel like 2008 again.
N-Dubz announce return, 11 years after split
0
0
8
🚨🏫 London continues to see a rapid decline in school age children, with a 15% drop in primary applications in less than a decade. 💰Falling birthrates, expensive housing and WFH culture possible reasons behind drop. - with @LouisaClarence .
5
5
7
🚨📸 The Met has admitted that 380 #ULEZ cameras have already been damaged. But one open source map suggests that up to one in four cameras in the expanded Ulez zone are missing or damaged, our analysis shows. - with @JSimpsonjourno .
6
4
7