500,000 children say Brown is wrong

Labour's claim to have taken one million children out of poverty was today proved false by official government figures.

The news was a blow to Chancellor Gordon Brown, who claimed credit for the success in last year's election campaign.

But according to the Office of National Statistics, there were 3.2 million children in 1997 living in relative poverty - households with less than 60 per cent of average income. By 2001 the total had declined to 2.7 million - a fall of only half a million.

At a press briefing today, the PM's spokesman ducked questions on whether Mr Brown had told an untruth. He said: "I don't think people will dispute the fact that we have made progress."

Shadow pensions secretary David Willetts said the official statistics had exposed the "spin and hype" of ministers.