MP Column | Less Than Truthful

Less Than Truthful

In Parliament, I am not allowed to say that another MP is lying. There is a good reason for this in an environment where people are there to trade different, sometimes diametrically opposed, views. In the absence of this parliamentary protocol things would quickly descend into a farcical slanging match. By way of a balancing effect, ministers, nor any other member of parliament must not knowingly mislead the house. These two rules are intended to act as a sort of counterbalance.

With all that having been said, when ministers get to their feet and profess that which is patently at odds with the prevailing circumstance or at the very least, a gross political exaggeration of reality, and do this with such frequency and abandon like the current crop of Ministers, then things can quickly unravel – as the Government is finding out to their mounting costs in the ‘credibility overdraft’.

Take ‘Great British Energy’ for example. Labour said it would be a publicly owned energy company, would lower bills by £300 and it would create thousands of jobs in Aberdeen. We now know, what Labour insiders always knew, that it is not an energy company, it will not generate electricity, its budget has shrunk from £28Bn to £1.6Bn, it has no employees in Aberdeen one year in, and our energy Bills have gone up by £300, not decreased.

Or their claim that there was a £22Billion black hole in the state’s finances which they couldn’t have known about. Well, they did know about it because the SNP and many others told them on the record and in TV debates that this would be the case.

Then there is the narrative that they are making tough choices to get growth going in the UK. Labour are taxing jobs out of existence, unemployment is rising, recruitment is falling, and investment is down. The economy has contracted for most of the time Labour have been in power and inflation is rising.

But worst is Labour’s incorrigible betrayal of our most vulnerable disabled people. Now living in fear of losing their support with living. Labour say it’s to get people back to work, ignoring the fact that many of these people are already in work and in receipt of PIP.

The trouble for Labour is that the truth will always prevail and they will pay a heavy price for their deceit.