TLDR at the end I just post how I propose to convince the new parliament.
If polling is anything near to close. Starmer will enter parlimemt on the 5th with a landslide majority.
Time for us to remember the court case PM Johnson won for the 350m lie on a bus. The high Court simply stated.
Parliment has made no law banning lies during a campaign.
Well we really do have an opportunity to convince Starmer to change that. With Sunak and Co clearly following the last elections lead. Lieing about the civil service backing up their cost estimates.
It is time parliment tried to build confidence in election claims. This would only be practical when it comes to provable falsehoods of fact. Such as the claims made about Starmers campaign. After they have been informed the civil service did not analyse the data they used.
Unfortunately forcing a party to follow its manifesto is not really doable. And if parliment made the law. The next parliment would cancel it.
How to convince Starmer et al
OK so most will remember back in the coalition. The new government claimed to want to be responsive. So they set up an official, way for the public to request parliment do things. Resulting in parliment responding with crappy excuses every single time 10k signatures. Or a dumb argument in committee at 100k.
Now consider a new majority land slide parliment. Walking into government on July the 5th. With a social media publicised request to make it illegal for election campaigns, to continue to publish claims known to be false.
Its a simple law. If your party has received evidence that your clai is false. You must stop using it or face legal punishment.
So assuming 10k votes. The new government would need to write a response claiming they think lieing is OK.
Pretty sure the electorate can eviserate them on social media after that. Changing their mind. The new tory opposition leader. (Or Lib Dem maybe?). Would sure as he’ll leap on the new government for such a claim.
But honestly to get the response needed. 100k signatures and the parliment required to have a public committee debate on their right to lie in campaigns.
No new government with a huge majority is going to be willing to face that.
Help
If you have read this far. You will recognise, I am not great at grammar and my wording is not consise. So when it comes to writing the partition on the parliment website. Someone more skilled would be best. Or a discussion here as to the best wording etc.
Do please if this idea seem worth while. (Let’s face it what have we to lose. A few mins a day signing a partition and posting to social media over the election. )
Then please join a discussion here. To try to push this idea forward over the next month.
Sorry this gets long. Please bare with it is why I am asking for help.
Yes. But as I say lies yours and my mum will disapprove of. And ones a court will consider provable are very different.
I am honestly trying to address the issue in a way that will not be trashed by politics in general. And societal attitudes of if its to hard don’t bother.
The simple fact is trying to stop Boris bus like lies. Is to hard for the public to attempt atm. We sure as hell are not going to form a viable agreed strategy in time to effect the fist 100 days. And honestly I think that is really important to move things in the right direction.
Risky Sunk is another matter all together. Not only because his lie is unquestionable as a lie. No argument can convince anyone that the treasury supported his claims as published. Even the most liberal court in the UK would have no choice but to agree the following points.
It was false under any interpretation. The treasury claims they had informed MPs is provable. Sunak and or his campaigners had the ability to prevent the lie before the debate.
This sort of thing no one can really claim we are unable to stop, Just take forcing parliament to pull its dangles out of the gravy boat.
So I am not saying the bus was not a lie. Of course it was. It is just the sort of lie no court can really prove beyond reasonable doubt. So even if we convince parliament the law needs to exist. It will be limited in its ability to effect such claims.
But we can make the likes of BJs campaigns way more careful with their claims. By addressing the much much more dangerous attempt by Rishi.
First is is more dangerous because the status of the treasury was used to reduce the effectiveness of fact checking. Lets face it Boris Bus was very much addressed. Fact checkers trashed it instantly. And we spent most of the election pointing it out.
Unfortunately convincing the faithful, of something they dont want. Can be impossible. Brexiters as a group knew it was a lie. Did not care. And just stated that the claims about economic bankruptcy were based on similar false accounting. As dumb as that logic is. Some remainers predicting it the second we voted was asking for the response.
But Rishi Told a lie that was aimed (in my unhumble opinion) to instantly make the non faithful question the accuracy of fact checkers.
He has known for the whole election cycle. That his faithful are reduced to a minority. So if he wants the level of support for a lie Johnson had. He needs to make every day voters question the bias of fact checker.
The treasury and civil servants in general (my ex was one) have a rule to not express political opinions on the job. They can lose their job or face demotions for failing to follow this. But more importantly is the time. During an election solution of parliament. Where the only ministers around working civil servants are incumbent ministers fighting for their job.
It is more then a rule. It is a mandate and the whole purpose of having civil servants rather then political appointments run the ministries. Their whole job purpose is to remain independent and make no changes to policy during the kings dissolution of parliamentary authority.
When people with this mandate are claimed to support the facts the Tory scum are exposing. It would naturally effect lots of undecided or even opposition decided voters that the independent fact checkers are the ones that lied.
Now here the media worked well. Once the labour party had announced a letter from the treasury leader. The media pounced on it. Fortunately I dont punish myself with GB news or the daily mail. But will guess they STFU rather then tried to claim the treasury letter is false. And we also know their is no way the civil service will contact the media themselves to express a political opinion. So trustworthy media really was the only thing that limited this harm.
So please anyone reading this remember that last sentence. Trustworthy media is the only thing that stopped Risky Sunk winning the fight over this very risky lie. Our history with the UK media makes it clear. This is not a situation that we can risk becoming common during any election period.