The BBC's Reality Check issues a correction

David Jordan's admiration for the BBC's Reality Check is disappointing but hardly unexpected. 

Today, the unit went after an anti-Labour audience member on last night's Question Time. 

But the BBCs 'reality checkers' turned out to have got it somewhat wrong themselves and had to issue a correction - a correction prompted by anti-Brexit QC Jolyon Maugham of all people.

Here are the Reality Check tweets that accompanied the BBC News website piece (linked to below):

• A man on BBC Question Time said he earned more than £80,000 a year but that did not put him in the top 5% of earners. HMRC figures show £75,300 put you in the top 5% in 2016-17. If you adjust that by earnings growth it suggests you now need to be earning about £81,000.
• The member of the audience on BBC Question Time also said earning £80,000 a year didn't even put him in the top 50% of earners. Anything over about £25,500 would put you in the top 50%.
• Thanks to Jolyon Maugham. The HMRC figures do indeed exclude those not earning enough to pay income tax, which means the BBC Question Time audience member would have been well inside the top 5% of earners. You can read more about it here:
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/50517136.
• Correction: The HMRC figures exclude those who do not earn enough to pay income tax. If these people are included then the audience member would have been well inside the top 5% of earners. 

That poor (rich) audience member may have got dumped on from a great height by the BBC's Reality Check but I hope he spots that the BBC's Reality Check itself got dumped on from an even greater height. And there are few things higher than Jolyon Maugham QC's ego.