Democracy organisations are demanding tougher legislation to stop MS from lying to voters

A bill that would make it illegal for politicians to lie has received mass public support amid accusations the general election was left ‘wide open to misinformation and abuse’

The bill, created by Compassion in Politics with the aid of legal experts, seeks to sanction dishonest MPs with an unlimited fine or maximum two year jail term.

The democracy organisation said political parties across the board were accused of deliberately lying or misleading voters during the general election campaign.

Matt Hawkins, co-founder of Compassion in Politics told Metro.co.uk: ‘I suspect many people are not aware that there is such a vacuum in British law when it comes to sanctioning politicians who deliberately lie to the public. So we want to show that that is the case but also demonstrate it can be fixed.’




A petition calling on parliament to consider introducing the bill racked up more than 101,000 signatures in three days.

Mr Hawkins said the aim of starting the petition was to highlight the growing public support for electoral reform after the ‘messy’ general election.

Boris Johnson is being urged to update election laws after the ‘messy’ general election (Picture: PA)

In the run up to Boris Johnson’s landslide victory, the Conservatives were criticised for ‘sanctioning lies from the top’.

Stunts that were called into question included changing their party twitter handle to Factcheck UK and launching a fake Labour manifesto mocking the opposition’s policies.

The Lib Dems also came under fire for masquerading campaign material as local newspapers.

Mr Hawkins said: ‘We hope to prove the desire for change. [Topping 100k] will be such a huge boost to our efforts.’

Politicians who have expressed support for the bill include Labour MP David Lammy and Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price.

Compassion in Politics, a cross-party organisation, say they plan to lobby Boris Johnson in the new year.

Labour MP David Lammy is understood to be a supporter of the bill (Picture: PA)

For the bill to ever get passed through parliament it would need the support of the Conservative Party, who won an 80 seat majority at the polls last week.

A week into his new term as Prime Minster Boris Johnson has already faced accusations of axing protections to voters rights.

He is poised to push through requirements for photo ID at polling stations – plans that critics warn would suppress the ability of young people and disadvantaged groups to vote.

Groups including the Electoral Reform society have warned of a ‘crisis in British democracy’ if legislation to stop MPs lying to voters is not introduced.

A recent poll from Ipsos MORI found that just 14% of the public said they trust politicians in general to tell the truth, the lowest score in ten years

Full Fact, the UK’s leading independent fact check charity, accused all the main parties of pushing claims they had found to be misleading.

Trust in politicians is at an all time low in the UK (Picture: REX)

That includes a widely promoted pledge by the Tories to build 40 new hospitals – when only six hospitals in England are actually getting money for building work this parliamentary term.

Labour’s claim that their policies would save the average household £6,700 a year was also branded ‘not credible’ by Full Fact.



A statement from the organisation following the results of the general election, said: ‘Despite calls from Full Fact, the Electoral Commission, the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and many others to reform our dangerously out of date election laws, nothing was done in time. This election was left wide open to misinformation and abuse.

‘The past six weeks have proved we were right to be worried. We’ve seen inappropriate and misleading campaign tactics that we hadn’t before, many of which have crossed the line – we’ve called these out throughout the campaign.’

Downing Street has been contacted for comment.

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