The Ministry of Truth

Q & A with the Professor

What’s all the fuss about?

The Ministry of Truth is a campaign film that introduced legislation making it illegal for politicians to deliberately deceive the public.

During the making of the film, over 50 MPs and Ministers were asked if they believed in honesty, transparency and accountability – then asked to support a law enforcing them. Extremely revealing (and entertaining) this led to the Elected Representatives (Prohibition of Deception) Bill being introduced into Parliament. As you’ll see, it’s the ultimate test of whether MPs really want to be accountable for deception.

How are you involved?

As a Professor in the Science of Deceit, I was employed by the film-makers to devise a test to discover MPs real desire for honesty and accountability. The results speak for themselves - and today it's more relevant than ever before.

You mean they can lie to us at the moment – and get away with it?

Absolutely. There’s no law in this country that makes it an offence for MPs to deceive the electorate. Worse than that – there’s no way of removing a sitting MP. Once they’ve been elected they can pretty much do what they like until the next general election. We’ve a general election coming up and this Bill is the perfect way to enforce honest politics and at the same time reveal which MPs and parties genuinely want to answer to their employers - the public.

So, what are you proposing?

Basically, the Bill says MPs caught deliberately deceiving the public would be fined and banned from standing for election for up to 10 years.

Who’s behind the bill?

It’s supported by a cross-party coalition of MPs (from the Lords and Commons) and is growing daily. Other supporters include award-winning comedian Dom Joly (some say he even looks a little like me), Sir Alistair Graham (Chairman, Standards in Public Life committee 2004/7), journalist-turned-politician Martin Bell, political writer Peter Oborne, Baroness Helena Kennedy, The Jury Team, Captain Sensible to name but a few.

What’s the likelihood of the bill becoming law?

The Bill was originally presented by Adam Price MP to the House of Commons in October 2007, but ran out of time on second hearing.

After the expenses scandal, the coalition want to re-introduce it because the expense fraud is just a small part of a much bigger problem - MPs policing themselves for deception. No-one else can hold them to account.

Support is growing fast amongst MPs and the public. Especially in the current political climate. It’s too early to predict success or failure - the first stage is to get it debated in the House of Commons.

How can I help?

It’s easy. In fact, the coalition of support inside Parliament need and want your help to convince the MPs opposed to the Bill. Despite all the talk of reform there's a massive amount of resistance and without you, the campaign is doomed. We'll only have ourselves to blame and no excuse for moaning about dishonest politics.

We need you to support the Bill by getting your hands on the film, showing it to friends, getting as many people as possible to sign the petition and asking your MP to support the Bill. If they don’t support it, ask yourself why not ?

Should we be taking you seriously?

Absolutely. Our tone may be irreverent – the film’s a very entertaining way of seeing politicians revealing themselves. To see them say they believe in honesty, transparency and accountability then explain why they won't support a law enforcing them is eye-watering.

More importantly, the campaign gives you the same simple, easy way of discovering whether your MP and Parliament is serious about cleaning up its act whilst forcing them into it. Even if you think there's no point voting in a general election because it won't change anything - this is your chance to change it all.

Why watch the film?

We believe it shows you how easy it is to end dishonest politics. You don’t have to watch the film at all, you can still sign the petition, join the campaign and write to your MP via the website.

We make no bones about the fact that we think everyone with a vote should see it. We want you to watch it, share it and show it to friends.

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