Boris Johnson forced to retreat on false claim life expectancy gap between rich and poor is narrowing under the Tories

Prime minister 'making things up' - after official statistics showed gap is widening because of 'greater gains' by wealthiest

Boris Johnson has been forced into an embarrassing retreat after wrongly claiming the huge gulf in life expectancy between rich and poor is narrowing under the Conservatives.

The prime minister raised eyebrows when he told MPs the gap “is a disgrace”, then added: “None the less, it is coming down, and it will come down.”

In fact, official statistics last March showed women in the poorest parts of England are living three months fewer – while the average life span of women in the wealthiest areas is rising by almost as much.

The discrepancy between men in the richest and poorest areas has also widened by about three months, driven by a faster rise in life expectancy for the wealthy.

Alarmingly, decade-on-decade improvements in life expectancy began to tail off in 2011 – a shock change blamed by some experts on the government’s harsh austerity programme.

Questioned by The Independent, Downing Street initially stood by the prime minister’s claim and promised to produce statistics to back it up, but has failed to do so.

Alex Cunningham, the Labour MP who raised the issue, said: “The prime minister is renowned for making things up – often on the hoof – when he should be taking action to help close the gap.

“All I know is that people in my area live much shorter lives than in his and he is getting a new hospital and I'm not,” the Stockton North MP told The Independent.

And Ed Davey, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “If the prime minister really wants to unite the country, he has to learn how to tell the truth.”

The latest example of Mr Johnson apparently making a false claim comes after fierce criticism of “lies” told about his Brexit deal and the NHS during the election campaign and since.

In his New Year message, he reheated demolished claims that the NHS is about to enjoy “a record funding settlement”, with 40 new hospitals and 50,000 more nurses.

In a recent article, the respected King’s Fund said the life expectancy gap was widening because of “greater gains” by people from wealthier backgrounds.

“Between 2012–14 and 2015–17, the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived widened by 0.3 years among males and 0.5 years among females,” it wrote.

“Among females living in the most deprived areas life expectancy fell by 100 days over this period, in contrast to the gain of 84 days among females living in the least deprived areas.”

In the Commons, Mr Cunningham asked Mr Johnson: “Just when is he going to end the scandal that means that Teesside men have the same life expectancy as those in Ethiopia, and to tackle the health inequalities in our area?”

He replied: “The discrepancy in life expectancy in this country is a disgrace. None the less, it is coming down, and it will come down. Life expectancy overall is at an all-time high.”