What are the consequences for lying to the electorate?

[Saxie007]

What can we do to ensure that the facts given are true? If MPs, special advisors and those on the campaign trail lie and it can be proven to be untrue in a court of law is there some form of redress that the public could take?

I am primarily thinking of the £350M to the NHS claim which was clearly rubbish.

If it was advertising we could fine the company and ban the ad.

We are dealing with liers here. How can we flush them out of our political system to make sure the facts are clear and true in future debates. Politicians have no moral code. They should be ashamed and the good ones are.

mirime "A bit unfair given that they were the junior partner in a coalition."

As a Lib Dem, can I just thank you for being the first person ever to say that to me? Most people just called us lying bastards (though that was last year, apparently the stakes have been raised since then)

It was first item on the BBC news.

"Farage was not part of the official campaign"

Good point. Who was?

Well I think we should go back to the start really.

I'd like to sue Heath for lying and getting us involved in a political ideology that ending up having supremacy over our Courts and told us what we could and couldn't do with borders and VAT.

Let me have the name of your lawyer, as I think there's a good case for misrepresentation of a common trading area.

No other trade deal seeks to become a supranational entity when you've joined that impacts on daily lives.

YANBU
I want them in jail too. Not sniggering like that fucker Farage was doing right after the results started coming in. But anyway, when you DO know someone has been lying to you, its YOUR responsibility to make decisions after researching all options. Just because others lie, you can't put the blame on the squarely.
I think it's just not politicians. It's media too. Whatever happened to investigative journalism regarding this referendum before the polling day itself.

leavetheround
So let's see how much solid facts you have actually rather than the rhetoric that you have spewed. Tell me how many laws were imposed on Great Britain in the last one year? And how many of them impacted your daily life and how many were made by the British Parliament along with their impact on your daily life.

Have you considered suing Blair also? War crimes would be a start.

Blair was one of those classic: how can you tell when a liar is lying? His lips are moving.

You're going to be really busy once you get started.

I'd like to sue those on the Remain side that say the Commission is just like our civil service.

It has legislative initiative - which we elect a government for and they pass back to us, to choose someone else to give it to.

We don't elect the Commision. Our civil service draft - they don't initiate the legislation..... elected government does.

House of Lords and MEP's have limited legislative initiative on "non controversial matters " and may ask the Commission, who will decide if in spirit of treaties etc.

leavetheroundabout OP has quite clearly stated she is talking about all politicians this isn't about leave vs remainers OP has a valid point!

It wasn't tricky to see through the lies. I blame the voters who didn't even bother to question this nonsense.

This looks pretty misleading to me..

And this..

Valentine :

We have the Commission telling us :

whom we should give benefits to;
dictating whether we can set a limit on migrant workers;

enforcing VAT rules (can't reduce to 0%)
EU judges having supremacy over ours .....just a few.

Most of the virgin initiatives have happened and passed from the Treaty and are enacted in our every day lives.... Or hadn't you noticed....

About 10% a year of initiatives are now Commission treaty objectives - as Junker said they should be patient and go slowly with further integration to take people with them.

The rest of the time is spent with Commission approved initiatives that implement and change laws which impact on 100% of our business when 85% of our businesses are home market and legislation is just a cost to them. Keeps the MEPs busy that bit.

The treaties are interepreted by EU Judges - and we are unable to change, overturn any law - as they are enforced by ECJ.

Is that enough for you? It is fundamentally bigger than MEPs passing bits of paper on irrelevant laws that no one cares about in the last year....

It is about supranational insitiutions.

No one asked the British public if they wanted sovereignity handed over to a higher authority we are unable to remove (Commission).

You sound like one of the remainers that think the MEPs run the European Union. Oh dear.

So, so far today I've read that Remainers want the old to fuck off and die; gerrymandering to give votes more worth based on people's age or location in the UK (and therefore their likeliness to vote for them); rules changed after a referendum because they don't like the result; parliament to unilaterally reject the referendum because they don't like the result and finally the leaders of the 'Leave' campaign jailed.

Honestly, I am absolutely fucking terrified I live in a country where people hold views like this. I'm interested to hear when exactly they want to ban any political opposition and set up their own Stasi style thought police. I'm actually seriously starting to see how civil wars and dictatorships start.

Bill you forgot the one where only intelligent people should be given the right to vote. It is quite terrifying that so many people appear to have these narrow minded views. Never realised until last week how divided a country we are.

So what does the freedom of movement mean in real terms? Before Thursday I could rock up in France with my kids - get a job there and put my kids in local French state schools. Can I still do that or not?

It isn't about 'can' or 'will', it is about the big untruth:
"We will be able to save £350 million a week"

They CANNOT spend savings of £350m a week on the NHS, schools or a massive candy floss machine , because our net spend on membership of the EU is not and never has been £350m a week.

Cody: right now, yes you can. But not after we sign the exit clause, probably.

And if you go now, you probably won't be able to stay in the long term. No if the French do what we are likely to do with EU nationals who live here; allow the ones who registered for NI numbers before an exit to stay, but everyone else has to go.

Right now, British students can get a free university education in the Netherlands. They can even get a grant paid to them, for their maintenance. That will stop. (Just in time for my DC to go to Uni)

BillSykes: do you want to insert a 'some' anywhere in your description of what 'Remainers' want - or are you reciprocally happy to be lumped in with every characteristic and reason for the Leave vote?

You can put in some of you like, but seeing as I was referring to what I'd read on Mumsnet I didn't think it was necessary to add that it didn't apply to all Remainers.

Consequences for lying to the electorate? High office, a peerage on retirement and sometimes a state funeral if history is anything to go by.

Low birthrates, entrenched poverty, class warfare.... consequences all gladly welcomed by some.

As a general point, disregarding all the political hate: any election campaign (any vote put to electorate) that advertises or relies on deliberate misinformation or lies constitutes electoral fraud, and thus the result should be found void.

Any lies told to the public during a term of office are a different matter. Don't conflate Blair's alleged war crimes with the fabrications perpetuated during the EU referendum please

And leave - I think you should read up on what the Commission actually does, who appoints it, and what it's powers are. From a source that isn't eurosceptical. Also, maybe read up on the UK civil service and what it does at the same time. Don't neglect to look up subordinate legislation while you're at it.

You've just handed over power to a far less democratic government, but the difference is there is now no possible challenge to any legislation in the UK, as parliament is 'sovereign'.

Yes, that parliament with an entirely unelected second chamber, an unelected head of state, and a voting system that only works if you have two parties and no more that 20 people voting. No real separation of powers. At the same time you've consigned the long term prospects of the economy to the equivalent of a slug's death when slightly sprinkled with salt. Well done.

Sorry if anyone has already linked to it, but there's a petition to give the Electoral Commission powers to intervene when any electioneering material lies or misleads - at the moment, nobody can do a thing about it.

It's here. Neutral of any side; both lied in their campaigns. Hopefully all can agree that it isn't acceptable, and there should be a body who can intervene.

m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/uk_576e2967e4b08d2c56393241?edition=uk