Last week I gave evidence to the Welsh Parliament’s Standards Committee as one of a number of expert witnesses. I told them about the petition that you have all signed demanding a law to stop the lying. 

They wanted to know why I believe that the introduction of a new criminal offence of deception is necessary in politics.

I thought you might be interested in my opening reply:

"I think that [a law to stop the lying in politics] is necessary for two reasons. The first is to have something visible that the public understand, which will begin to turn around public trust. This isn't going to be the only answer, but it will be a really clear signal that politics—. I make these statements in the knowledge that everyone on this call is doing an incredible job, and it does not fall into the category of politicians that we are talking about. 

"Politics needs to visibly take action to show that it is cleaning up its act so that it can begin to restore trust, and it needs to defend itself against the bad actors that we have….We have political actors who are willing to do whatever it takes to gain power, and willing to say whatever it takes to win the argument… so I’m really interested in a measure that will disincentive and stop them.

"I was very attracted by some of the things that the Chief Constable said [in her evidence] in terms of the higher burden of proof required in criminal proceedings. I’d also like to draw out the fact that she has a special unit during elections that could then be kept on to deal with these matters. And also, of course, the CPS has guidance on the issue of when it is in the public interest to bring an offence, so that guidance can be issued along with the Act, in terms of what constitutes the public interest in bringing an offence under this legislation….

"In terms of the fear of [being overwhelmed by] vexatious statements, I would say that, for a complaint to be made, it needs to be accompanied by evidence that the offence has been committed. You can’t just say that someone’s lied, in the same way as you can’t just say, ‘My house has been burgled’ if there’s no evidence of anything missing, or having been broken into. So, you have to provide evidence in order to make a complaint—evidence that an offence has taken place. So, I think, with the specialist unit continuing through non-election times, a high standard of proof and a public interest filter on the cases that are actually brought, this could be incredibly effective.”

I hope you found that interesting, if you have any thoughts on this yourself and would like to share them with us you can always contact us: click here.

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Jennifer

Co-Director, Compassion in Politics