How do you know a politician is lying? Their lips are moving. We’ve all heard the joke. Even in these horribly divided times, there’s one belief that still unites the fractured British public: politicians can’t be trusted. So a plan hatched in Wales last summer to make lying in politics a criminal offence has proved popular, but not among the Welsh parliament’s standards committee, which warned against the idea this week.
“Our view is that the risks and the unintended consequences currently outweigh the benefits,” the committee said. Its report suggested that, given the “considerable existing strain on the justice system”, it would be wrong to put more pressure on the courts – quite the illustration of how regularly politicians are thought to lie.
It does feel like politics is getting more dishonest.
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