Late 1980s to 1990s
What: The UK Conservative Government was reducing unemployment by partly manipulating the unprecedented and high unemployment figures amongst competitor countries to avoid negative consequences and embarrassment after its own 1980s industrial and economic policies led to high unemployment and in sleight of hand it manipulated the statistics, including by its DSS, moving and encouraging unemployed people from unemployment to disability.
Why significant: This shows that the UK Government has taken short-term decisions and statistical manipulation for political expediency that has repeatedly caused many of the problems with its own solutions. This partly led to the rise in disability that in the 1980s that the UK Conservative and New Labour government was then trying to hide and reverse in the 1990s by denying legitimate disabilities by various welfare reforms.