Truth has been the first casualty of Britain’s election
An epidemic of lying is proving corrosive to liberal democracy
WINSTON CHURCHILL once said that “in wartime truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” If Britain’s election is anything to go by, these days lies are so precious that they need to be attended by a bodyguard of further lies. This election has been marinated in mendacity: big lies and small lies; quarter truths and pseudo-facts; distortion, dissembling and disinformation; and digital skulduggery on an industrial scale. The public is so disillusioned with the political process that, when a member of the public asked Boris Johnson during a televised debate whether he valued truth, the audience burst into laughter. Mr Johnson is the favourite by a substantial margin.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Liar, liar”
Britain December 7th 2019
- “Get Brexit done”? It’s not as simple as Boris Johnson claims
- What would happen in a hung parliament?
- How to rehabilitate a terrorist
- The Tories are well ahead in Wrexham, part of Labour’s “Red Wall”
- The best quotes from the final full week of Britain’s election
- The Tories are down but not out in London
- It’s lonely being a Tory candidate in deep-red Liverpool
- Truth has been the first casualty of Britain’s election
From the December 7th 2019 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
Has the Royal Navy become too timid?
A new paper examines how its culture has changed
A plan to reorganise local government in England runs into opposition
Turkeys vote against Christmas
David Lammy’s plan to shake up Britain’s Foreign Office
Diplomats will be tasked with growing the economy and cutting migration
Britain’s government has spooked markets and riled businesses
Tax rises were inevitable. Such a shaky start was not
Labour’s credibility trap
Who can believe Rachel Reeves?