The most frightening thing for me is the emergence of the post-truth era. It’s so Orwellian.
I suppose there are parts of the world where this has always existed, but in the Western developed World, it has been Trump who has claimed ‘black’ is in fact ‘white’, and vice versa. The writing was on the wall just after his Inauguration when he claimed he had a bigger audience than Obama. He continued the lie even when photographic evidence of the event were put side by side. This was followed by Kellyanne Conway’s breathtaking defence of ‘alternative facts’. Trump would tell a lie, and then another, and then another. The very existence of truth and empiricism began to vanish before our very eyes.
His example was of course followed by Balsonaro, Orban, Modi and then our own Boris Johnson. Johnson would lie, and then repeat the lie and repeat it again. The whole nation was gaslighted into believing fantasy mantras ….
20,000 new police officers, 40 new hospitals, the vaccine rollout was because we’d left the European Medicines Agency etc etc..
If we don’t have truth, or if we no longer understand what ‘truth ‘ is, we have nothing.
And that is what I find so terrifying.
My MP is Kemi Badenoch, who rarely responds to any communications and doesn't represent her constituents. She's far too busy with her own career and being seen as an anti-woke champion.
An interesting debate. Let me respond to a few comments.....
DiamondLily
"Johnson is just a compulsive liar. In his personal life, and with his career.
I've never understood why people support him.?"
I think the reason why people support him (and his cohorts) is that they have politicians who lie, cheat and are corrupt, which often allows them to justify their own actions (if not always to others, to themselves). He is also a showman (vaudeville act) with no substance and some people love that.
growstuff
"I'm not sure what you mean about energy prices. Generally, they are going up across the world."
Yes, they are, but other countries are doing much more, more quickly, for the plebs. France, for example ('Friend or foe' - Truss says "the jury is out"), is limiting rises to 4%. But they are in the dastardly EU of course, where we couldn't make our own laws or policies.
Americanpie
"We are suffering from having mediocre politicians who haven't the guts to do something radical about our energy sources. Where it will all end is anyone's guess but it is going to get a lot worse without a bold leader."
One of the problems is that many decent competent politicians have been sidelined or rejected by their parties, or have become disentranched with the whole business and left frontline politics.
Parsley3
"I constantly write to me MP regarding the lies that are told in parliament. And she constantly denies it."
My MP is Anne-Marie Morris. Therefore I share your experience and your pain.
CatsCatsCats
All politicians lie, it's part of their job description.
If you're looking for one who is totally honest and full of integrity, you've got a very long wait ahead.....
Cats, lying is Not part of a politician's job description. What job contract would specify that?
What Is in his/her job description is that he/she carries out the job with Integrity and Honesty.
It is the Contract that he/she has with the electorate. Us!
Parsley3
varian
How many times have you pointed out Johnson's lies to a Tory voter and been told "they're all the same"?
They are not all the same. We must support the politicians who have integrity and tell the truth. Otherwise the liars will win.Yes, this cannot be said too often.
Saying that all politicians lie is ridiculous. Think about it.
Are we so completely powerless that that demanding honesty and integrity in our politicians is beyond us? The answer is no we are not. We may not have been aware of Thatcher's secret agenda, if she had one, but we are well aware of what we are being told today. For example, the 40 hospitals mantra is a figment of Johnson's imagination but he shouted it across the House on a regular basis. If the next PM does the same then the leader of the opposition needs challenge it and we, the voters, need to let our MPs, of all parties, know that enough is enough.
I constantly write to me MP regarding the lies that are told in parliament. And she constantly denies it.
And I am sure that locally many people do not have that experience. My previous constitiency MP was a hard working MP who did a lot for the local community both in and out of office.
varian
How many times have you pointed out Johnson's lies to a Tory voter and been told "they're all the same"?
They are not all the same. We must support the politicians who have integrity and tell the truth. Otherwise the liars will win.
Yes, this cannot be said too often.
Saying that all politicians lie is ridiculous. Think about it.
Are we so completely powerless that that demanding honesty and integrity in our politicians is beyond us? The answer is no we are not. We may not have been aware of Thatcher's secret agenda, if she had one, but we are well aware of what we are being told today. For example, the 40 hospitals mantra is a figment of Johnson's imagination but he shouted it across the House on a regular basis. If the next PM does the same then the leader of the opposition needs challenge it and we, the voters, need to let our MPs, of all parties, know that enough is enough.
Keep on repeating the lie that 'all politicians lie' and it normalises it...
Exactly!
Glorianny I think the difference is that agendas are no longer that secret. Politicians lies are out in the open, but people are powerless to do anything about them.
CatsCatsCats
All politicians lie, it's part of their job description.
If you're looking for one who is totally honest and full of integrity, you've got a very long wait ahead.....
With respect, I think people like you are part of the problem, Cats.
Keep on repeating the lie that 'all politicians lie' and it normalises it...
The Conservatives, and their influential supporters, perpetuate the myth that ‘all politicians are the same’ e.g. Keir Starmer eating a curry and drinking a bottle of beer whilst campaigning was ‘the same’ as Johnson’s years of blatant lying and law-breaking!!! This myth plays into the hands of the Tories because it may turn people away from voting altogether. However, Tories will still vote Tory! All politicians are not the same. I’m sure there must even be some decent, honourable Tory MPs, although they are now culpable by association. Not sure how they sleep at night.
All politicians lie, it's part of their job description.
If you're looking for one who is totally honest and full of integrity, you've got a very long wait ahead.....
It was very very clear that Johnson was a liar before he was elected. It was very clear that his character was lacking to say the least.
MaizieD
Unfortunately, halfpint1, Sunak doesn't have an inkling of economics. People just think he does because he made a lot of money in the financial markets. But successful speculation has nothing to do with running a country's economy.
If you say so, says alot about him being the Chancellor
I don't think the present political state can all be blamed on Trump. I'd take it further back. Thatcher showed that you can have a secret agenda which you work to whilst telling the public something entirely different. So in fact your party's policies don't need to be anything you really intend to do, because once you have instigated the changes you are planning the policies are forgotten. Subsequent politicians have built on this belief and fine honed it . So Johnson lied about everything and planned only his own progress. Sadly I think it's difficult to find anyone in politics who isn't a bit like that.
Someone wrote about Charles II
Here lies my sovereign Lord the King
Whose word no man relies on
He never said a foolish thing
Nor ever did a wise one
Charles said his words were his own but his actions those of his ministers.
I think we could now apply it to every politician -their words are their scriptwriters, their actions their own.
varian
How many times have you pointed out Johnson's lies to a Tory voter and been told "they're all the same"?
They are not all the same. We must support the politicians who have integrity and tell the truth. Otherwise the liars will win.
I agree. Politicians and their parties aren't all the same. I'm not sure some people even understand what truth is any more. They seem to have been conditioned to repeat the excuses they've heard elsewhere.
Which lies during the pandemic do you mean? There were so many, especially from conspiracy theorists. Sunak is now trying to claim that the UK relied too much on "scientists" - the people who did understand most.
I'm not sure what you mean about energy prices. Generally, they are going up across the world.
How many times have you pointed out Johnson's lies to a Tory voter and been told "they're all the same"?
They are not all the same. We must support the politicians who have integrity and tell the truth. Otherwise the liars will win.
After the lies that we were fed during the pandemic I now, don't believe a word that our government tell us and that wont change for me, no matter what party is in power. We are told that energy prices are going up across the world. Another lie.
We are suffering from having mediocre politicians who haven't the guts to do something radical about our energy sources. Where it will all end is anyone's guess but it is going to get a lot worse without a bold leader.
DiamondLily
Johnson is just a compulsive liar. In his personal life, and with his career.
I've never understood why people support him.?
Maybe because they see something of themselves in him.
pieinthesky
A lie is a lie however it’s described and there is no place for liars in politics.
Unfortunately, there seem plenty of places for liars in politics.
For me, the worst thing is that so many know that we're being told lies, but there is no way of challenging the lies. Politicians are instructed to repeat the lies "ad infinitum", so they become accepted as the norm.
There are so many examples, but one is "40 new hospitals". Any sane person knows that there aren't 40 new hospitals in the pipeline. Even the six which already had quite advanced plans won't be built for nearly a decade (certainly not within the life of this parliament). Nevertheless, the "fact" gets repeated whenever a government minister is challenged about the NHS, along with manipulated figures about increased funding. Some people believe the propaganda, while others watch in disbelief that values of truth no longer seem to matter.
We truly do have politics based on lies.
Unfortunately, halfpint1, Sunak doesn't have an inkling of economics. People just think he does because he made a lot of money in the financial markets. But successful speculation has nothing to do with running a country's economy.
Watched from afar, I find Ms Truss alarming. For all Sunak has
done/not done I would far rather have someone with an inkling of economics .
I was sucked into the CNN coverage of Trump for his 4 years
it was the 'reality show' atmosphere of it. I haven't turned the
channel on since.
It seems that both Truss and Sunak are following the same path , if you listen to their speeches in the leadership campaign.
Johnson is just a compulsive liar. In his personal life, and with his career.
I've never understood why people support him.?
Boris Johnson wouldn’t know or acknowledge the truth if it hit him on the head very hard.
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