Blame David Cameron for the catalogue of Conservative lies
Don’t expect Conservative ministers to do the honourable thing when they are found to have misled Parliament – it turns out they have ‘previous’ (or is it ‘form’?) in this regard.
Take a look at the YouTube clip above. It is from an April, 1994 episode of Have I Got News For You and refers to Nicholas Scott, then a minister of state for social security, who ‘talked out’ a private members’ bill aiming to outlaw discrimination on grounds of disability.
On behalf of the Conservative government of the day, he made it his business to ensure that it would remain possible to discriminate against disabled people.
Asked if this was true, he denied it and – as the very young-looking Ian Hislop states in the clip – “he was lying, of course.”
Angus Deayton (remember him?) fleshes out the story: “John Major previously gave his word that any minister who knowingly misled his fellow MPs should be sacked… It sounds like John Major has knowingly misled his fellow MPs as well. Perhaps he should go sack himself.”
Of course Major stood by his minister – Scott was only doing what Major had told him!
In fact, Parliamentary convention has long held that anybody committing ‘contempt of Parliament’ by deliberately misleading fellow MPs may be suspended or expelled, as highlighted previously by this blog.
The clip makes it clear that Conservatives have been ignoring such rules for decades – and that the person to blame is usually the one at the top – John Major, back in the 1990s.
David Cameron, now.
This makes sense. Look at Iain Duncan Smith, who has loudly and continually fibbed his face off about his so-called “welfare reforms”, in spite of the mountain of evidence showing that tens of thousands of people have died because of them.
That is as discriminatory as a law can be.
Commenters on this blog, in their multitudes, have asked why Iain Duncan Smith has remained in his post after setting in motion the sequence of disasters that have hit the Department for Work and Pensions on his watch. Looking at the Scott/Major affair, we can deduce that the man we call RTU has not been ‘Returned To Unit’ (in this case, the backbenches) because he has been doing exactly what David Cameron wanted – victimising the disabled in the worst possible way.
What does this say about Cameron, whose own late son was disabled? Cameron claimed all the disability benefits he possibly could, before he became Prime Minister and ordered RTU to cancel them or change their eligibility criteria so that almost nobody could legitimately claim them.
Recent stories show that RTU is still victimising the disabled while his reaction to criticism is becoming increasingly unbalanced.
Meanwhile, Cameron has to answer for multiple offences of his own. Most recently he lied about waiting times in the English part of the National Health Service, but this article also highlights his false claim – in a party political broadcast – that the Coalition was “paying down Britain’s debts”, and the false claim that spending on the NHS had risen in real terms since the Coalition took office.
What conclusion can we draw from this? It’s obvious, really.
Your Conservative-led Coalition government has been lying to you. It is lying to you now. It will lie to you in the future.
This is not in the national interest. How can it be in the national interest for the government to pass laws that harm the disabled – and to pass laws that could harm the sick by delaying medical aid – and then lie to you to keep you quiet?
It is ideologically-motivated cruelty. Nothing more.
It will continue as long as your vote supports it.
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You are right to urge people not to vote for liers but one thing we all need to understand is that Britain’s unwritten constitution is largely based on conventions and not laws, which is why it is so flexible that politicians can make anything they like of it. It used to be the case that ministers would resign if anything went wrong in their departments. These days, hundred of millions – if not billions – of pounds are wasted and squandered routinely, usually connected with the introduction of new schemes and technologies, and ministers just stay brazenly in office.
See http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2004/rp04-031.pdf for more details.
Yes. That’s why I wrote “Parliamentary convention” in the article. It’s a clear indication that this area needs to be tightened up with some proper lawmaking, I think.
No doubt Labour will lie their heads off too, I believe it’s fair to say James Purnell (for example) had a reputation for it. Anyhoo, back to IDS… I’d say he remains in his job because his fiddling of the sickness and unemployment figures has given government the appearance of economic success they pretended to aspire to. He’s fireproof at the moment, they’ll protect him all the way.
We don’t know what Labour will do, after they get back into office next May. Predictions like yours will put people off voting for them and ensure the Tories an easy victory so be careful what you say or write!
As for RTU, I reckon I got it right with this one – Cameron won’t move him because he’s doing Cameron’s twisted will.
‘vote labour or else the tories will win’ is as damning an indictment of the state of UK politics in general and the party you support in particular as they come. You know fine well that labour will do little if anything to improve the lot of their traditional core support, serving as they do the same powerful vested interests as the current mob. it’s pitiful imvho.
Firstly: Unless you are a Labour insider who has personal knowledge of the policies the party is to announce (soon), you DON’T know fine well that Labour will do anything like what you suggest. It is misleading to claim that you do.
In fact most, if not all, of Labour’s recent policy announcements have been exactly intended to improve the well-being of core supporters.
Secondly: By passing comments that undermine Labour’s message, you help the Conservatives. Do you really want that?
SO how can you tell if a politician is lying?. Easy their lips are moving.. I’ll get my coat..
There was one british pm, I forget his name, who left his pre-pubescent/pubescent daughter in a pub. Had he arranged for her to be collected by Patrick Rock?
Considering the way that same Prime Minister, whose name escapes me, treated the disabled after his disabled son passed away, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
I am listening to the conservative mp telling people’s the load of lies to everybody in this country I have had enough of them as far as I am concerned that are all … robbing the poor to give to the Rich
Everyone has been affected by the economic collapse, caused by the banks, and the misappropriation of the economic downturn to target everyone but the rich (especially bankers).
The positioning of the three main Westminster parties implicitly absolves the banks from responsibility from the current economic problems – only the moronic or dishonest say Labour are to blame for the Global financial crisis, and the same for those who say the Coalition is to blame for the current economic performance, or who say the performance is good.
The first step to restoring, and indeed improving, equality and fundamental social security is to make the banks repair the economy; remember Project Merlyn? Remember it working?
To actually “force” the banks to repair the economy, and thus free monies to help those from whom it has been unfairly removed, is to link banker and bank taxes to unemployment level and cost.
I urge all organisations who are interested in fairness and equality to read and adopt the ideas in:
http://www.bailoutswindle.com
I haven’t read this site yet; would appreciate comments from others who have.
I believe the MP referred to is Nicholas Scott, not Nicholas Smith as you have written in the article. Nicholas Smith is a current Labour MP. Previous to him there was a 16th/17th century MP of that name.
You’re absolutely right – I’ve corrected it now. You’ll notice that I used the correct name further down the article.
I was concentrating very hard on not getting the name wrong, too!
I hadn’t spotted the other references. I tend to scan read sometimes, but the first reference was in line of sight as I watched the vid. I don’t usually comment on spelling mistakes as they’re usually trivial, but names are a little more important.
Great article glad you’re keeping up the pressure in these unbelievable times.
Reblogged this on Jay's Journal.
Reblogged this on Britain Isn't Eating and commented:
Another excellent post by Mike at Vox Political on Conservative lies and the Ministers/MP’s that spout them without conscience.
Reblogged this on kittysjones.
The link you posted to Cameron’s false claims in PPB goes to a story about Welfare reform suicides.
Great article btw.
[…] Don't expect Conservative ministers to do the honourable thing when they are found to have misled Parliament – it turns out they have 'previous' (or is it 'form'?) in this regard. Take a look at th… […]
Well at the tory party conference he blatantly lied about people drinking from flower vases at Stafford Hospital, a claim that has been disproven time after time but still gets bandied about by liars with a nhs privatisation inclination, and that hundreds died needlessly there was found to be possibly one preventable death by Francis, yet this lying piece of excrement still claims it is true.