Sunday 7 June 2015

Lying Politicians

It seems to have become a thing accepted and tolerated by the public that politicians lie.
The fact that we have been told for the last few years that everything is on the up and the economy is all rainbows and fairy castles in the run up to the election only to then be told days afterwards that the Government are having to make £12 billion of austerity cuts is a case in point.
As it is the same Government, they must have had the cuts in mind before the election so they know the state of the countries finances and lied about them to get themselves back in power.
This week a parliamentary standards watchdog launched a formal enquiry into one MP who after much denial, now admits he had agreed to the leak of a document aimed at damaging the SNP during the recent campaign.
As we have no mechanism to remove the right honourable Members of Parliament if it is later discovered that they lied or if they have their hands in the expenses till, they just get away with it unless the watchdog becomes involved and that is only if a fellow MP makes a complaint which of course is very rare, lest the spotlight is turned on them.
Politician's lies come on a sliding scale from a little white lie one to maybe deceive your enemies in war or hostile foreign states, to whoppers such as Tony Blair and George W Bush said, but is it ever right for the people in power to lie to their own citizens for their own political advantage?
In a recent interview, an MP said Parliament would be empty if politicians were punished for telling lies and maybe if a few more were punished we can start believing them when they explain a policy.
As they are receiving a backdated pay increase of 10% 'as the economy is picking up' while public and civil servant continue with pay freezes and 1% increases, maybe that lie should be investigated also or at the very least suspended until we all feel the benefit and not just the 5% of earners which bracket the £75k per year politicians now move into.

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