Small lies in early dating phase a red flag?

[Usernamealreadyexists]

Hypothetical question - if someone lies about small stuff, is that a red flag or do you tolerate it until you establish where the relationship is going? As an example, someone says they can’t meet at a particular time as they need to be somewhere else but turns out they were not there (this is after a conversation about the importance of honesty, even small things).

V v early days with someone from OLD. Happy to chuck him at this stage as I think he’s prone to this.

It's irrelevant whether the OP has ever told a white lie. They had a conversation about the importance of telling the truth, even about the little things, and he's gone on to tell small lies. He might be a lovely chap but either he's a habitual liar who can't help himself or he did not take the OP seriously when it clearly matters to her. This is not a good match.

Has he had the chance to say where he was instead yet though?

He might casually drop into conversation that, "Y'know I was going to meet Ned, my old mucker from uni? Well he had the flu so cancelled. I went to see Mary Poppins instead. I sat on my own in the one and fours. I wished you had been there actually."

Sanctimonious twaddle. Its not irrelevant its total hypocrisy, also a deeply unattractive trait. (Not aimed at you OP)

You don't understand what sanctimonious means.

Oh heck. I feel very cowed.

If someone viewed a date with me as an appointment they wanted to get out of, I think I'd be happy to let them bugger off.