LATEST EXPEDITIONS
The purpose of the Campaign against Political Lying is to lobby for legislation to be passed that will require politicians in democratic parliamentary assemblies to have to tell the truth, under obligation, and with the penalty being applied against them that if found to have deliberately lied on any official matter before the house, that they immediately lose office and are sacked from office as a matter of honour.
PROPOSED LEGISLATIONTHE VERACITY OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND HOLDERS OF PUBLIC OFFICE BILL |
what WOULD politicians have to agree in THEIR oath of office ? For the first time in history all politicians in democratic parliaments would have to agree to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on all matters under debate - if found to have lied - they would lose office. |
WHICH COUNTRIES MIGHT ADOPT THIS PROPOSAL ?The variety of democratic parliamentary bodies in all member countries of the European Union, and in the Council of Europe, and in the Commonwealth, as well as in the USA, and in Latin American countries, and in Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries, the Commonwealth of Independent States etc. - all of whom have varying degrees of democratic parliamentary governance in place - and most of whom belong to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. All would be eligible to adopt our proposed legislation. |
But the question is, can our system stand the force of truth ? are we so used to living in a world of lies ? Gandhi called the worker for peace a Truth-Upholder (Satyagrahi). Indian philosophies talk of Sat-yuga, a coming age of truth. The Bill would make Veracity a legal duty on all public office holders from the Monarch down to the local bobby.. when I was growing up in the 1960’s I thought we lived in a such a country, and that everyone in power told the truth.. as I have grown older I realise that in fact people in power rarely do.. and that there is no actual legal requirement on them to do so.. how can representational democracy ever work if our political leaders can simply go on lying to us all.. and to each other ? I think this was Socrates’ point actually…
So thus I have written a draft bill, and I also wrote a letter which I sent it to all the UK political parties who have at least one member of Parliament. So far, I have had a few replies, but nobody has yet been enthusiastic enough to take it up a future legislation. I’m still waiting. Hence the need to found this Campaign against Political Lying. General elections are useless as long as elected politicians of all parties have no legal requirement to actually tell the truth. They can say one thing to get elected, and then do other things to stay in power - and this is the usual modus operandi of politicians in fact.
I have also launched this Campaign as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Britain and Ireland, and I have realised that we are never going to get a full and final lasting peace settlement in Ireland as long as we don’t respect truth in the political culture of the British Isles.
I have also written it as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East, for exactly the same reason. How are we going to help solve the problems of Israel/Palestine/Iraq/Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Iran/Turkey/Kurdistan etc. etc. and help do our bit through the UN and the Commonwealth and the EU to bring about a culture of truth telling and reconciliation in the Middle East, if we in our own back yard are also running a duplicitous political system ? So I am hoping if we in the UK can adopt a Bill of Veracity like this, then it might spread to other countries. I have got colleagues in South Africa, India and the USA for instance, working on seeing something similar emerge on their own statute books. Hopefully Canada too..
So thus I have written a draft bill, and I also wrote a letter which I sent it to all the UK political parties who have at least one member of Parliament. So far, I have had a few replies, but nobody has yet been enthusiastic enough to take it up a future legislation. I’m still waiting. Hence the need to found this Campaign against Political Lying. General elections are useless as long as elected politicians of all parties have no legal requirement to actually tell the truth. They can say one thing to get elected, and then do other things to stay in power - and this is the usual modus operandi of politicians in fact.
I have also launched this Campaign as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Britain and Ireland, and I have realised that we are never going to get a full and final lasting peace settlement in Ireland as long as we don’t respect truth in the political culture of the British Isles.
I have also written it as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East, for exactly the same reason. How are we going to help solve the problems of Israel/Palestine/Iraq/Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Iran/Turkey/Kurdistan etc. etc. and help do our bit through the UN and the Commonwealth and the EU to bring about a culture of truth telling and reconciliation in the Middle East, if we in our own back yard are also running a duplicitous political system ? So I am hoping if we in the UK can adopt a Bill of Veracity like this, then it might spread to other countries. I have got colleagues in South Africa, India and the USA for instance, working on seeing something similar emerge on their own statute books. Hopefully Canada too..
OUR GOALOur intention is to change the political climate in parliaments worldwide and make lying illegal in parliament |
HOW CAN YOU HELP ?GET INVOLVED..
We want to set up a Campaign Against Political Lying Chapter in every single parliamentary assembly worldwide, and call for elected MP's (and potential MP's) and Members of Senates / Upper Chambers worldwide to sign up, join our campaign, and volunteer to set up a Cross Party Chapter in their own parliamentary body.
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WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS ?LEGISLATE
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO GET PARLIAMENTARIANS IN EACH COUNTRY TO LEGISLATE A PARLIAMENTARY VERACITY BILL IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES
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getting philosophical..BUT WHAT IS TRUTH ?
There are huge philosophical issues around defining what truth is. How much truth do we want or need to share ? What if people think they are telling the truth but they are basing their arguments on false assumptions, or wrong data, or simple ignorance ? What if they think they are speaking words of wisdom but because of unconscious prejudices they may have inherited from their culture, education or family, they are actually simply promoting forms of ignorance and bigotry ? Is truth perhaps relative to the depth of one's understanding ? That is why we are framing our Campaign as being Against Lying because whereas different interpretations exist on what is political truth, most people from different parts of the political spectrum will agree on what actual lying is.
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