To think there should be a real consequence for the dishonest campaign tactics by the Tories

[Waitrosescheapestvodka]

The conservatives have so far:

• Set up a fake 'Labour Manifesto' site under the domain name labourmanifesto.co.uk, paying google for it to be the top result and paying for ads on Labour websites to draw people to it

• Changed their twitter name to FactCheckUK during the leader's debate to present as an impartial fact checker

• Doctored a video of Labour's brexit secretary to misrepresent the party's brexit stance

Boris Johnson is clearly allowing his election tactic of outright lies to be spread out across their campaign. It's revolting and there should be a consequence that's not a easily-paid fine.

And now the deflection...

As long as voters dismiss this kind of chicanery with a wave of the hand and a comment all politicians are the same, the Tories will go on getting away with murder.

Add to this the fact that the unelected and unaccountable Dominic Cummings is probably dreaming up this stuff and Boris et al can't get enough of his wizard japes and you have a very nasty smell indeed.

It's almost as if they're testing to see how much the lowest common denominator voters will actually accept from them. I hope it backfires badly, but every electorate gets the government it deserves.

Imagine that lot with a mandate!

*Sparkl The Maureen Lipman ad was shocking because, iirc, she has always been Labour. Evidently, the anti semitism has got to her.

She left in 2014 because Red Ed supports palestinian rights

www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/29/maureen-lipman-support-labour*

I don't dismiss it, i think its pathetic of the Tories. But the real bile I see inevitably comes from the far left on social media, I wouldn't even know about the tories stupid websites if they hadn't been in the news!

So we've had the deflection, the dismissing and now the feigning of ignorance. People should be very worried about the disinformation in politics. It's very much right wing and started with brexit.

Don't be silly frank

YANBU, it goes against The Nolan Principles and it should be considered fraudulent behaviour.

It's very much right wing and started with brexit.

Labour MP Clive Lewis criticised for tweeting 'fake news' poll

ICM's Head of Research: "Neither I, nor anyone at @ICMResearch has any knowledge of this poll. Please withdraw our name from it."

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/26/labour-mp-clive-lewis-criticised-tweeting-fake-news-poll/

As opposed to the Labour party stating that their massive spending spree is going to be paid for by the billionaires, not ordinary people, which is the biggest lie?

How do you define “ordinary people”?

As long as voters dismiss this kind of chicanery with a wave of the hand and a comment all politicians are the same, the Tories will go on getting away with murder. So you want me to vote for Corbyn 'just because Boris!' ?

No way!

I'm going to continue to harrass contact my local candidates and demand that they acually do something useful, if they want my vote.

Grass roots, that's where change starts! So get naggling at yours!

I think most voters have already made up their mind about which lie they find closest to their values and also who they're willing to throw under the bus this time.

And surely it’s obvious that there is a difference between lying/spinning/whatever you want to call it and actually setting up what looks like a fact checker which turns out to be telling lies?

All parties campaign with partizan spin, which can sometimes veer into untruths.

But I do think the Torries have taken things one step further this time out. The examples in the OP are a misinformation campaign. There's a difference between a politician saying something dubious and falsely posing as the opposing party or an independent fact checker.

I think you can vote Tory but still expect a more transparent and good-faith campaign than that we're currently seeing.

I think the Tories have crossed a new line with these deceptions but there will won’t be the consequences the OP wishes for. We’re in new territory - here and in the US - where the truth doesn’t matter much and barefaced lying is expected and celebrated. Which makes it all the more galling that the counterbalance comes in the form of a terrorist sympathising Jew hater.

The only surprise for me is that this wasn't even worse. As I said last week, the whole thing's getting so dirty that I'm half expecting either or both leaders to run a serious (but fake) "expose" of the other in the last few days before the vote

We should be particularly weary of these sorts of tactics given the advances in 'deep fakes' technology. We are getting to the point (if we're not there already) where people can make believable videos that appear to show somebody else making a statement that they haven't (literally putting words in someone's mouth).

It'd be possible to make a realistic-looking video of Boris Johnson saying that he eats babies, for example.

If you want to campaign by stating untruths yourself, it's hard to police that, but posing as an opposing party or any other person/organization is extremely dangerous.

Two people today told me a scurrilous rumour about Bozza and the dancing tech specialist. No, surely that can't be true? Reply, 'what does it matter anyway? He lies about everything so I will believe it until proved otherwise.' Feet of clay everywhere. This is very unhealthy.

its shocking- and i think people who think its acceptable are arseholes.

The sad truth is that Boris Johnson could do virtually anything and people will still vote for him. It reminds me of Trump and the pussy grabbing story.

The Labour Party is promising us Utopia without giving us any evidence of where the trillions of pounds are going to come from to fund it. Anyone with half a brain can see they are the party of desperation hoping that people will be so blinded by the promises that they won’t stop for a minute to actually realise that the trillions needed are not achievable by just taxing the wealthy and large corporations. Blatant lying.

To the posters saying that Labour is making false promises, don't you think that saying something that may or may not turn out to be correct in the future is not in the same league of dishonesty as saying something that is actually incorrect / deliberately misleading in the here and now?

trillions of pounds are going to come from to fund it.

The manifesto is fully costed, the 1.2 trillion figure was roundly debunked

The Labour Party is promising us Utopia without giving us any evidence of where the trillions of pounds are going to come from to fund it. Anyone with half a brain can see they are the party of desperation hoping that people will be so blinded by the promises that they won’t stop for a minute to actually realise that the trillions needed are not achievable by just taxing the wealthy and large corporations. Blatant lying.

This isn't the same as deliberately lying about what the other party is saying, making a fake manifesto website or presenting as an independent fact checker. Making dubious promises is not new in politics (?350m for the NHS anyone), but this is a new low.

I agree all parties over promise in their manifestos, but Labour absolutely know that they can’t deliver on all their promises - it’s absolutely bonkers - but are hoping people might be too stupid to notice. It’s a fairy story.