BBC Scotland today are delighted to be able to headline:

No evidence Scotland’s poverty policies are working – report

They know that some, perhaps many, will read that to mean these policies are not working at all when all the new think tank was saying is that more data is required to prove they are.

Read deeper to see the sneaky nature of the headline confirmed:

The Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (Sheru) highlighted a “critical gap” in data on the effectiveness of programmes such as the Scottish Child Payment. The organisation – run by the Fraser of Allander Institute and Strathclyde University’s Centre for Health Policy – said key information was “either missing or not detailed enough to show the real impact” on inequality.

I suspect that has been true of every well-intentioned policy since time began.

One obvious response is:

Shouldn’t the Scottish Government just get on with these new policies such as the widely praised Child Payment and waste little time trying to prove that something, complex and difficult to prove, but which most of us, with experts across Europe, are sure will be effective?

Shouldn’t, of course, BBC Scotland try to avoid misleading us?