Foriegn worker statistics more to the release than meets the eye

This morning's Times led with the release by the Office for National Statistics of figures that suggest that

the number of foreign workers increased by 175,000 to 2.4 million last year while the number of British workers fell by 234,000 to 27 million.

The government was reportedly not happy with the actions of Karen Dunnell which couldn't have come at a worst time as once again protests about foriegn workers begin

Mike Smithson sees something going wrong

To me what makes this interesting is not the jobs story but that what used to be the all-powerful Number 10 spin operation had no idea of what was coming and that the Office of National Statistics is operating independently without reference to ministers.

he writes and adds that

Isn’t this also a measure of the decline of Labour’s power? Whitehall has a strong sense that the game is up and bodies like the UK Statistics Authority can launch moves without fear.