28th February 2026
In 2023, the BBC admitted that comparing government finances to a household budget is "dangerous territory" that can mislead audiences. And yet we still hear that myth every day.
Its own impartiality review said household budget analogies are wrong. So why do they keep talking about them?
Why? Because the myth is politically useful. It limits debate, justifies cuts to public services and social security, and presents ideology as arithmetic.
In this video, I unpack what the BBC admitted, why the myth survives, and how we challenge it.
Fiscal policy is about choices, as the BBC knows. It's time the BBC started making better ones when talking about that fact.