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Westminster should follow Wales’ suit and back legislation to ban lying in Parliament, campaigners say.
The call comes as consultation ends for the Welsh Government’s legislative plans to sanction Members of the Senedd (MSs) who deliberately mislead others and the public.
Sanctions could include booting members from office, barring them from re-standing, and convicting them of a new criminal offence of deception.
Due to Wales’ new proportional voting system set to come in for the 2026 Senedd elections, a successful ‘recall’ effort to kick out an MS would likely result in the next candidate on the party list taking the seat, rather than triggering a by-election.
Compassion in Politics, the non-profit which has helped lead the charge for the proposed new law, believes that it should apply not just to elected members but to candidates too, and that it should be a criminal offence prosecuted in the courts.
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But the organisation’s director, Jennifer Nadel, fears that the Welsh Government is attempting to water down potential sanctions for any MP who lies.
The consultation paper outlines three main options for tackling deception:
- Creating a new criminal offence, which would be investigated by police and tried in criminal courts.
- Establishing a civil offence, potentially investigated by the Public Services Ombudsman and adjudicated by an independent Welsh Tribunal.
- Strengthening the existing Code of Conduct and Senedd procedures to more explicitly prohibit wilful lying or deception.
The Senedd Members’ Code of Conduct already requires Members to be truthful. Rule 2 of the Code of Conduct is “Members must act truthfully”. But the sanctions currently available do not include disqualification from office, or any criminal sanction.
Legislation on the issue has the backing of the Labour Government in Wales, as well as opposition parties including Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats. Other backers include Open Britain, religious group The Quakers, and members of the UK Democracy Network.
It was opposition parties – and the odd Labour rebel such as Lee Waters MS – who forced an amendment to a separate bill to create a new offence of lying in the Senedd.
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But it was withdrawn after the Government committed to introducing separate legislation with proper consultation and a legal framework.
Wales’ Counsel General committed to introduce legislation before 2026, stating: “Welsh Government will bring forward legislation before 2026 for the disqualification of Members and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception through an independent judicial process and will invite the committee to make proposals to that effect.”
However, the consultation now appears to move away from that commitment by debating whether candidates – not just currently-elected Senedd members – should be affected by the law, and whether to make it simply a civil rather than a criminal matter.
That may stem from fears over potential pitfalls of banning lying in politics, including the need to balance free speech protections with the desire for greater accountability. Concerns have also been raised about the risk of malicious complaints being used as a political weapon – with political campaigners reporting their opponents en masse.
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But Jennifer Nadel, director of the campaign group Compassion in Politics which helped spearhead the legislation, told Byline Times: “We feel strongly that the sanctions need to be criminal. Lying needs to be treated with the severity it merits. It’s also about restoring trust. If politicians create a lesser vehicle for policing themselves than applies elsewhere, that’s problematic.”
The UK Government plans to pass a Hillsborough Law, which would place a ‘duty of candour’ on civil servants and public bodies to tell the truth during investigations.
However, the legislation “will place a greater obligation on public servants than their political masters” when it comes to telling the truth, Nadel says – unless politicians pass similar legislation against politicians lying.
“At the moment, lying works…The benefits far outweigh the sanctions. The only way of tipping the balance is by ensuring disqualification. That’s what people like Nigel Farage would fear, that’s what Boris Johnson would fear, that’s what Donald Trump would fear – not being able to hold office as a result of their tactics,” Nadel adds.
In ‘extreme’ cases, Compassion in Politics believes the sanction for deliberate deception by politicians could include prison time.
Responding to fears of a ‘chilling effect’ among politicians if they’re barred from lying – for example, if they face being reported to the police frequently by political opponents – Nadel says: “It’s only a vanishingly small number of statements that would fall foul of the law. But those are the most damaging ones that pollute the water for everyone else.”
“It wouldn’t apply to situations where someone has made an innocent mistake and withdrew it. There would be instances of national security or market-sensitive decisions where a minister may need to obfuscate, but that’s in a tiny, exceptional number of cases,” she adds.
Compassion in Politics has responded to the consultation calling for the Welsh Government to stick to plans for a new criminal offence against deception in politics, and urging candidates to be included within the scope.
The group is also seeking a meeting with Ministers in Westminster to secure UK legislation. So far, the signals have been that UK Labour would not back a new criminal offence, but the new Government has launched a Modernisation Committee in the House of Commons which could look at bolstering the MP Code of Conduct.
In the meantime, Nadel argues that Wales is at the “global forefront of the fight against dishonesty in politics.”
You can view the Welsh Government’s consultation paper on the new law here.
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