logo
Politicians who deliberately lie could be forced from office in Wales

Politicians who deliberately lie could be forced from office in Wales

The Guardian18-02-2025

Elected politicians who deliberately lie could be forced from office under proposals designed to put Wales at the forefront of the 'global challenge' to restore trust in politics.
Radical changes suggested by the Welsh parliament standards committee would also make candidates in elections liable to criminal prosecution for making any false statement to win votes.
The Welsh government has committed to introduce 'globally pioneering' legislation aimed at making lying in politics in Wales illegal by next year and asked the Senedd's standards of conduct committee to investigate the best way of doing it.
Committee members recommended strengthening the Senedd code of conduct, which applies to the behaviour of members inside and outside the parliament, and said it should explicitly state that members must not make deliberately misleading statements.
If a member was caught lying, the committee said they should be asked to retract the falsehood and the correction would be placed on their profile on the Senedd website.
They could also face suspension and, in extreme cases, be 'recalled and removed' by voters and replaced with another member of their party.
The committee said it had looked at bringing in a law to make lying for elected politicians illegal in Wales but thought this would be too complex.
There is already legislation in Wales that makes it an offence for political candidates to make or publish a false statement of fact about the personal conduct or character of a rival to win votes.
The committee is recommending widening the scope of the offence to cover any false statement made by a Welsh candidate to seek electoral advantage. If this law was broken, the candidate would be subject to investigation by the police and prosecution by an electoral court.
The issue is seen as particularly urgent in Wales because changes to the voting system at next year's Senedd elections and an increased size of parliament are likely to make the campaign particularly febrile, with Reform UK having a good chance of winning seats.
Hannah Blythyn, the chair of the committee, said toughening rules for Senedd members and candidates was critical at a time when public trust in institutions was low.
She said: 'People should be able to trust those who represent them. Our report is putting forward recommendations to radically enhance our rules and make it clear to anyone who wants to hold public office that deliberately deceiving is not acceptable.'
Sam Fowles, the director of the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research, said: 'This report is a rejection of the counsels of doom which say that demanding politicians are honest is just too difficult.
'We have professional regulations which require other professions to act honestly. We need to hold politicians to the same professional standards we expect from others.'
Jennifer Nadel, a co-director of the thinktank Compassion in Politics, said: 'This report puts Wales firmly at the forefront of the battle against political deception. However, the report falls short of calling for serving members to be subject to criminal sanction, instead relying on beefing up existing standards mechanisms. We would like to see it go further in this respect. The Senedd is acting and we now call on Westminster to follow suit.'
A Welsh government spokesperson said it would consider the findings and recommendations before responding formally.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Chancellor Rachel Reeves unleashes eye-watering borrowing spree in do-or-die bid to drive growth
Chancellor Rachel Reeves unleashes eye-watering borrowing spree in do-or-die bid to drive growth

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

Chancellor Rachel Reeves unleashes eye-watering borrowing spree in do-or-die bid to drive growth

RACHEL Reeves was yesterday branded a 'spend now, tax later' Chancellor after unleashing an eye-watering borrowing spree in a do-or-die bid to drive growth. Ms Reeves put £113billion on the country's credit card to fund 'national renewal' projects — with defence and the NHS taking the lion's share of the budget uplifts. 3 Rachel Reeves was branded a 'spend now, tax later' Chancellor Credit: Simon Walker / HM Treasury 3 The Chancellor unleashing an eye-watering borrowing spree in a do-or-die bid to drive growth Credit: AFP She was accused of digging the 'black hole' in public finances Labour claimed to have inherited into a 'crater into which public confidence is plunging'. Experts said her next Budget may have to raise up to £23billion to keep to her fiscal rules amid economic slowdown and uncertainty over US tariffs. It sparked fears of tax rises in autumn to stop UK debt worsening and spooking money markets. Ms Reeves came out fighting after a humiliating 48 hours in which she U-turned on winter fuel cash for millions of OAPs. She unveiled spending plans for the next three years, calling them 'Labour choices' in the hope of shoring up support in the party's heartlands amid the threat of Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said she had a 'Corbynist catalogue' of tax rises to flick through to fund her pledges — a reference to a secret memo Deputy PM Angela Rayner sent her suggesting ways to raise cash. He called her a 'tinfoil Chancellor, flimsy and ready to fold in the face of the slightest pressure' as she set out her plans. He said: 'This is the spend now, tax later review, because the Chancellor knows she will need to come back here in the autumn with yet more taxes and a cruel summer of speculation awaits. 'How can we possibly take this Chancellor seriously after the chaos of the last 12 months?' Mr Reeves insisted later that no tax rises would be needed to pay for her commitments. Top 5 takeaways from Spending review She said: 'Every penny is funded through the tax increases and changes to the fiscal rules that we set out last autumn.' The review was the first since 2007 to go through spending 'line by line', it was claimed. The health department is expected to make £9billion in efficiency savings by 2028-29, and the defence budget £905million. The Chancellor told MPs: 'I've made my choices. In place of chaos, I choose stability. 3 'In place of decline, I choose investment. In place of pessimism, division and defeatism, I choose national renewal. 'Reforms that will make public services more efficient, more productive and more focused on the user. I have been relentless in driving out inefficiencies. 'I will be ruthless in calling out waste with every penny being reinvested into public services.' She will hope the cash injections will ease relationships with Labour backbenchers concerned at welfare cuts. A vote on measures is planned for next month. The biggest winner in the review was the NHS, which gets a three per cent budget rise in England over the next three years, taking its funding to £226billion. Financial cushion The defence budget will go up by 2.6 per cent but pressure is mounting on ministers to raise it again to 3.5 per cent by 2035. The vow to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years was boosted with confirmation an average of £3.9billion will be go on social and affordable housing in the next decade. Ed Miliband's energy department gets a 16 per cent real-terms rise with £14.2billion extra going on the Sizewell C nuclear plant. Families and OAPs could save £600 a year on bills in more energy-efficient homes, she said. A pledge to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 will save £1billion a year, she insisted. The police will get an above-inflation increase but top cops have warned of 'incredibly challenging' budgets following tense talks between the Chancellor and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Surrey Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said the money will 'fall far short' of that needed to fund Government ambitions and maintain the existing workforce. He said the increase 'will cover little more than annual inflationary pay increases'. The Chancellor inherited, supposedly, a black hole and she has dug a crater into which public confidence is plunging. Richard Tice Ms Reeves aims to meet her fiscal rule of balancing day-to-day spending with revenues by 2029-30 and plans to reduce the UK's debt. Her financial cushion is just less than £10billion. Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said public spending was 'completely out of control'. He said: 'The Chancellor inherited, supposedly, a black hole and she has dug a crater into which public confidence is plunging.' Economist Ruth Gregory, of Capital Economics, said Ms Reeves may need to find an extra £13billion to £23billion in autumn's Budget 'simply to maintain her current buffer against the fiscal rules'. Stephen Millard, interim director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said it is now 'almost inevitable' that if she sticks to her rules, she will have to raise taxes this year. Rain Newton-Smith, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, warned that the Government cannot target business again following its £25billion raid at the last Budget. She said: 'We will hold the Chancellor to account that she won't come back for tax rises on business . . . because I don't think business can shoulder any more. 'The Prime Minister himself has said you cannot tax your way to growth. "So I think it's critical that we don't see rises like that on business because they are the ones that need to invest to deliver the growth mission.'

Mark Drakeford tells Plaid Cymru leader he's 'very bad at listening' in heated exchange
Mark Drakeford tells Plaid Cymru leader he's 'very bad at listening' in heated exchange

Wales Online

time2 hours ago

  • Wales Online

Mark Drakeford tells Plaid Cymru leader he's 'very bad at listening' in heated exchange

Mark Drakeford tells Plaid Cymru leader he's 'very bad at listening' in heated exchange The former First Minister told the Plaid Cymru leader to 'listen to me' Wales' finance minister Mark Drakeford lost his cool with Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth during a heated Senedd debate about rail funding. The former First Minister was delivering his closing remarks in a debate about today's spending review announcement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. He turned to the Plaid Cymru leader, Ynys Mon MS Rhun ap Iorwerth, pointed and told him he was "very bad at hectoring". The UK Labour Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, today announced the government's spending plans for the next three years and a debate was scheduled in the Senedd to discuss it. ‌ One of the topics was £445m of funding announced for rail in Wales. Confusion emerged after the chancellor said that money was over 10 years, which would have meant the much-lauded announcement would mean Wales would have received less from Labour than under the Tories. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here ‌ ‌Opposition parties jumped on the phrasing used by the chancellor. Yet briefings from Treasury officials and the Wales Office suggests it is more complex than that - although there is still a lack of detail about when the money will be spent, what it will be spent on and how much progress will be possible when the sum promised is less than the cost of the big ambitions for rail in Wales. You can read the full explanation here. Plaid Cymru members react as Mr Drakeford turns to Rhun ap Iorwerth (Image: Senedd TV ) The Treasury seemed to clarify the Chancellor's comments that of the £445m coming to Wales, the £350m would be spent in the next three financial years, not over a 10 year period. The 10 years, they said, referred to some £97m of money which is for developing future projects. Article continues below However, during the Senedd exchange, Mr Drakeford appeared to lose his cool with Mr ap Iorwerth. The pair had previously worked in partnership during the co-operation agreement. Mr Drakeford turned to Plaid Cymru and told them the £350m - a combination of £300m the UK Government will spend and around £48m the Welsh Government will get - will be spent in the next three years. Mark Drakeford points at Rhun ap Iorwerth during a heated debate over rail funding (Image: Senedd TV ) ‌ "Let's be clear," he said, "I know you don't like good news, but I am telling you, I am the finance minister here, would you like to listen to me? I would tell you, the Plaid Cymru leader, he is very bad at listening and very bad at hectoring." Mr ap Iorwerth then interjected quoting the chancellor's words "the Chancellor said £455m is coming over ten years, those were her words". Rhun ap Iorwerth looks on during the exchange (Image: Senedd TV ) ‌ Mr Drakeford then told him not to "make the same mistake for the fourth time, this afternoon". "The leader of Plaid Cymru is very bad at listening and very bad at hectoring people from where he sits, it's not an attractive trait, I can tell you that," he said. Mr Drakeford said £350m would come in the first three years, and an additional £90m over a 10 year investment strategy. "Wales will benefit from both," he said. Article continues below

Spending review: will Rachel Reeves's huge fiscal gamble yield electoral dividends?
Spending review: will Rachel Reeves's huge fiscal gamble yield electoral dividends?

The Guardian

time2 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Spending review: will Rachel Reeves's huge fiscal gamble yield electoral dividends?

Rachel Reeves has gambled billions of pounds of infrastructure spending on 'renewing Britain' ahead of the next election but faces a battle to convince voters that Labour can deliver change amid deep cuts to everyday spending. The chancellor admitted that 'too many people in too many parts of our country' were yet to feel the benefits of the change they voted for when Labour was swept to power with a huge majority last year. With many Labour MPs already feeling unsettled about the electoral threat of Reform UK, she has already launched a charm offensive to persuade them that her spending review on Wednesday was not a return to austerity. Economists warned that mounting pressures on spending, including the U-turn on winter fuel payments for pensioners and Labour MPs' backlash against disability benefit cuts, meant that Reeves could be forced to raise taxes or look for more savings in the autumn. There could also be other tax increases ahead, with the Treasury's calculations being based on assumptions that local authorities will put up council tax by the maximum 4.99% a year for three years to fund services, including adult social care. Writing in the Guardian , Keir Starmer said that departmental budgets, which will grow by 2.3% a year in real terms, showed the government had 'entered a new stage' in its efforts to transform the country. 'It is an investment in Britain's renewal, so working people have more money in their pocket, more pride in their community and more hope for their children's future,' he added. The NHS and defence were the big winners of the spending review, with 90% of the increase in the day-to-day budget over the next three years going to health and 80% of the boost in capital spending going to defence, according to the Resolution Foundation. However, it means that other Whitehall departments, including the Home Office, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, and the departments of culture, transport and environment all face real terms cuts to their everyday budgets, as well as the Foreign Office, mainly as a result of aid cuts. Ministers have been chastened by polls which suggest that Labour's decision to increase spending overall at the autumn budget has not yet filtered through to voters, after a bumpy first year in power and contentious decisions over welfare cuts and a national insurance for employers. A growing clamour for change has been reflected in a surge in support for Reform UK. In her statement to MPs, Reeves reminded them that Nigel Farage, the party's leader, had described Liz Truss's disastrous mini budget as 'the best Conservative budget since the 1980s'. She added that Reform UK was now 'itching to do the same thing all over again' and had already racked up £80bn in unfunded spending commitments since the last election. 'They are simply not serious,' she said. In what will be interpreted as a response to a threat from the right, the chancellor made a high-stakes promise to cut spending on asylum hotels by the end of the parliament, which she said would save £1bn. There was also £280m more a year for the new Border Security Command. But the Home Office will receive a budget cut which will extend beyond the asylum savings, causing alarm from police officers and the London mayor Sadiq Khan. The government also set out its own version of Elon Musk's 'Doge' efficiency pledges, suggesting they would make cuts of £14bn to through operational improvements, digital transformation, cutting consultants and AI. Despite free school meals being expanded to at least 500,000 more pupils, lifting 100,000 out of poverty, schools budgets will be squeezed. Teachers will get a 4% pay rise next year, with additional funding of £615m. But schools will still have to fund about a quarter of it themselves. The spending review marked the culmination of months of discussions between Reeves and her cabinet colleagues, with negotiations with home secretary Yvette Cooper going down to the wire. In the days running up to the announcement, ministers announced £15bn for transport outside London, £14.2bn to build a new nuclear power station and an almost doubling of government spending – nearly £40bn – on affordable housing over the next 10 years. After months of speculation over the government's commitment to the net zero agenda, Reeves confirmed that ministers would not cut Labour's landmark £13.2bn fund to fix draughty homes. Reeves drew a comparison with the 2.9% cut in the austerity years under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition – a retort to her critics who have accused her of a return to austerity. 'Austerity was a destructive choice for the fabric of our society, and it was a destructive choice for our economy too, choking off investment and demand,' she said. 'Creating a lost decade for growth, wages and living standards that is their legacy. My choices are different. My choices are Labour choices.' Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) hailed the 'genuinely big sums,' the chancellor has set aside for investment projects; but warned that some departments' day-to-day spending plans look tight. 'The funding increases for health and defence are substantial. The corollary, of course, is a less generous settlement elsewhere,' he said. Reeves changed her fiscal rules in last autumn's budget to pave the way for a £113bn uplift in investment spending, and Wednesday's statement set out details of where this funding will be allocated – much of it aimed outside London and the South East. Beneficiaries include green energy, social housing and transport. The Treasury hopes such projects will create jobs, including in deprived areas, and help to make the UK's sluggish economy more productive and kickstart growth. As well as changing Treasury rules to support investment in England's regions, the spending review would provide £52bn for Scotland, £20bn for Northern Ireland and £23bn for Wales. 'We are renewing Britain. But I know that too many people in too many parts of our country are yet to feel it,' Reeves said. 'My task as chancellor and the purpose of this spending review is to change that. To ensure that renewal is felt in people's everyday lives, in their jobs, and on their high streets.' With the chancellor insisting she would stick to her 'fiscal rules' – including meeting day-to-day spending through tax receipts – experts warned that any economic shock could push her plans off course. Andrew Goodwin, chief economist at consultancy Oxford Economics, said, 'considering the government's recent U-turn on winter fuel payments could be a precursor to higher government spending in other areas, it looks increasingly likely that substantial tax increases will be needed'. Ruth Curtice, director of the Resolution Foundation, said, 'after a summer of spending, the budget this autumn will be far more challenging. The economic outlook is looking weaker – not stronger – since the spring, and that will require more tax rises or welfare cuts for the chancellor to meet her fiscal rules'. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said 'this is the spend-now, tax-later review' adding that Reeves 'knows she will need to come back here in the autumn with yet more taxes and a cruel summer of speculation awaits'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store