“I ask the court to judge which is worse,” urges the handsome but painfully earnest Dylan McDermott. “A lie that draws a smile or a truth that draws a tear?” This rhetorical flourish is problematic even by Hollywood’s standards, given that Kris Kringle’s lawyer in Miracle on 34th Street appears to be suggesting his client is committing perjury.
The Office for National Statistics, on the other hand, has no such qualms about delivering tear-inducing truths, which is just as well. This morning, it published inflation data that continues to leave the government and households squirming.
