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In praise of … Claus Moser In praise of … Claus Moser
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Claus Moser, who is 91 this year, is best known as the man who chaired the Royal Opera House at a particularly challenging time. But whether or not you know your Wagner from your Verdi he should be treasured as the great promoter and defender of statistics. The value of numbers to government has been a given since William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday book. But in the 1960s Lord Moser (as he became) persuaded Harold Wilson that statistics were much more than a basis for taxation. They were the indispensable basis for developing and monitoring social policy. His second great contribution was an uncompromising insistence on integrity. His refusal to delay inclusion of costly plane purchases in the trade figures due out on the eve of the 1970 election arguably cost Labour victory. But as the latest row over the ONS's migration numbers illustrates again, without integrity statistics are nothing.Claus Moser, who is 91 this year, is best known as the man who chaired the Royal Opera House at a particularly challenging time. But whether or not you know your Wagner from your Verdi he should be treasured as the great promoter and defender of statistics. The value of numbers to government has been a given since William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday book. But in the 1960s Lord Moser (as he became) persuaded Harold Wilson that statistics were much more than a basis for taxation. They were the indispensable basis for developing and monitoring social policy. His second great contribution was an uncompromising insistence on integrity. His refusal to delay inclusion of costly plane purchases in the trade figures due out on the eve of the 1970 election arguably cost Labour victory. But as the latest row over the ONS's migration numbers illustrates again, without integrity statistics are nothing.
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