28 Apr 2021
The leaders of six opposition parties in the House of Commons are accusing Boris Johnson of “a consistent failure to be honest” – a charge the Prime Minister denies.
Who gets to decide whether someone in power is guilty of lying? And what penalties are in place for those who are found to have deliberately misled parliament or the public?
Code breaking?
In a joint letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons, the leaders of the Greens, SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and Alliance parties in Westminster refer to two codes of conduct that UK politicians are supposed to follow: the Nolan principles and the Ministerial Code. Both stress the importance of being truthful.