In Wales, they’re considering a law of “political deception”. Meaning when a politician is deemed to deliberately lie, it’s a criminal offence
Overshadowed by the UK General Election was this extraordinary piece of legislation set in motion by the Welsh Senedd. Report from Bylines Cymru:
The Welsh Government has made history by committing to outlaw political deception. In a move heralded by campaigners as a significant development in the fight to restore faith in democracy, the government confirmed that it will introduce legislation before the next Senedd election in 2026 to ban candidates and members of the Welsh Parliament from deliberately lying to the public.
The move follows the tabling of an amendment by Welsh MS Adam Price to create a criminal offence of political deception. The proposal had previously won the backing of the Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, and the Welsh Liberal Democrats but was originally opposed by the Welsh Labour government.
A political reset on lying
Following a concerted campaign by members and the think-tank Compassion in Politics, however, the government gave way and committed to introduce its own Bill in the near future. The move follows a four-year campaign by Compassion in Politics, working at both Westminster and national parliaments.
The original law drafted by this group was backed by three-quarters of the general public, accosding to polling by Opinium. Jennifer Nadel, Co-Director of Compassion in Politics, said: “Public confidence in politicians is at an all-time low. This move is the beginning of a political reset.”
“Voters want honesty, and this means that Wales will become the first country to insist that politicians and candidates are obliged by law to tell the truth. Lying in politics has for too long been normalised. Voters expect and deserve more, and now they will have it.”
Long-overdue standards
Dr Sam Fowles, the barrister who helped stop the prorogation of parliament in 2019 and contributed to the exposing of the Post Office Scandal in 2021, has been advising Price.
Fowles said: “Truth telling is essential to democracy. As voters we should be entitled to rely on the statements made by our elected representatives.”
“This measure will ensure that politicians are held to the same standards as lawyers and doctors, who already have enforceable truth-telling obligations. This seems to me to be long overdue.”
A landmark moment
Price first tried to introduce legislation to oblige MPs to tell the truth in 2007, to hold then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to account for the Iraq war.
He said: “Today’s announcement that the Welsh Government will bring forward and support legislation to effectively outlaw lying in politics is a landmark moment. And is a recognition that existing mechanisms to ensure public trust and confidence in politics have failed.”
“As a result of the cross-party support that now exists in the Senedd to legislate to disqualify Members and candidates found guilty of making deceptive statements, the Senedd will become the first legislature in the UK to embark on this path. It’s all the more fitting that we have a commitment to legislate for this much-needed and long-awaited reform to coincide with a reformed Senedd elected in 2026.”
“It’s a vindication of the arguments we have put forward. And it’s also a vote of confidence in our maturing parliamentary democracy that the government and opposition have been able to agree on a way forward for the common good.”
This move is revolutionary not only in the UK but globally. Australia plans to ban lying in politics, but only in campaign advertising.
More here. This piece from The Conversation explains further:
Under the proposals it would be a criminal offence for a member of the Senedd, or a candidate for election to the Senedd, to wilfully, or with intent to mislead, make or publish a statement that is known to be false or deceptive. Proceedings would have to be brought within six months from the date on which the statement was made.
It would be considered a defence if it could be “reasonably inferred” to be a statement of opinion, or if it were retracted with an apology within 14 days. Being prosecuted for such a law would disqualify a person from being a Senedd member.
…There are also broader concerns about whether the Senedd has the ability under Wales’s devolved powers to make such a law. While Wales can passlaws in respect of the operations of the Senedd, legally speaking there are problems when it comes to straying into the realms of criminal offences. In this instance it is unlikely the Senedd would be able to expressly create a criminal offence such as this.