LONDON (AFX) - The independence of the Bank of England could come under political attack if it continues to undershoot its target for inflation, monetary policy committee member Sushil Wadhwani told the Financial Times. He said the MPC had to forstall criticism and could not be seen to be making "persistent mistakes". Underlying inflation has been below the target 2.5 pct for 35 of the past 37 months. Wadhwani was speaking on the eve of his departure from the MPC. Separately, the Bank of England has called for urgent clarification of controversial official data showing that Britain was close to recession earlier this year, ahead of the next meeting of its interest rate-setting committee, the Times said without citing sources. Bank officials are understood to have demanded that the Office for National Statistics explain how it calculates growth figures, after The Times published detailed analysis suggesting that results spanning the last two quarters were seriously misleading.