Political

Lib Dems table motion to allow MPs to call out Johnson’s lies in Parliament

Boris Johnson - Crown Copyright photo
Boris Johnson. Photo by Pippa Fowles / No 10 Downing Street (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

A Liberal Democrat press release brings the news…

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion to allow MPs to point out when the Prime Minister makes misleading statements, without being thrown out of the Commons.

The motion, tabled by Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey, would amend Parliament’s standing orders to allow MPs to say in the Commons Chamber why they believe “the Prime Minister has misled the House.” Under current rules, doing this would be deemed as “grossly disorderly conduct” which would lead to the Speaker having no choice but to evict an MP from the chamber.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on Conservative MPs and opposition parties to back the change, so that Boris Johnson can be held to account for his lies and “Trumpian” behaviour.

It comes after Boris Johnson has repeatedly made misleading statements in Parliament. These include his unfounded slur against Keir Starmer on Jimmy Savile, and his false claim that figures show crime has fallen which was rebuked by the statistics watchdog following a complaint by the Liberal Democrats.

Under the ministerial code, ministers who inadvertently mislead Parliament should correct the record, while those who intentionally do so should resign. However, Boris Johnson has so far refused to correct the record after making misleading statements, showing the current rules are not being properly enforced.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said:

Boris Johnson has repeatedly lied, refused to apologise and failed to retract his damaging claims. It can’t be right that he can get away with these blatant false claims while any MPs who challenge him are punished.

We need to update Parliament’s rules to reflect a Prime Minister who has made lying at the despatch box a lifestyle choice. MPs must be able to call out Boris Johnson and hold him to account.

Conservative MPs should back this change and stand up to Boris Johnson’s Trumpian behaviour that is dragging our politics through the mud. Every day that Johnson’s lies and misinformation goes unchallenged will do more damage to trust in our politics.

The motion calls for a change to Standing Order No 43 of the House of Commons, which currently reads:

Disorderly conduct

The Speaker, or the chair, shall order any Member or Members whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the House during the remainder of that day’s sitting; and the Serjeant at Arms shall act on such orders as he may receive from the chair in pursuance of this order. But if on any occasion the Speaker, or the chair, deems that his powers under the previous provisions of this order are inadequate, he may name such Member or Members, in which event the same procedure shall be followed as is prescribed by Standing Order No. 44 (Order in debate).

The motion tabled by Ed Davey says:

That this House considers that, given the breadth of the Prime Minister’s responsibilities, their leading role in Government and the country and the consequent need for accuracy in the information they give, it is desirable that the following amendment be made to Standing Order No. 43 (Disorderly conduct):

At end, add– (2) A question, intervention or speech by a Member setting out the reasons why he or she believes the Prime Minister has misled the House is not grossly disorderly conduct.

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5 responses to “Lib Dems table motion to allow MPs to call out Johnson’s lies in Parliament”

  1. Boris’s lies, economies with the actuality, call them what you will are so blatant that is not difficult to refute them within seconds. Maybe we should include in the motion a provision to call out the lies his acolytes when they try to defend his fibs.

  2. I have written twice to The Speaker to ask for the system to be changed so lies can be called out. He explained that Erskine May rules prevented this. So I set up a petition to support changes to be made so lies could be called out.

    https://chng.it/YgmzBCbk

    Although it hasn’t had a lot of support this was primarily because people said The Tories would never pass this in Parliament with their huge majority. After all it’s to their advantage to keep lying and misleading us all!! I really hope this motion is successful and thank you for doing this. Our Democracy is in danger if these lies are allowed to continue

  3. Invented stories, fake stories, lies, misinformation, lack of integrity and no moral compass. There’s only so much the people of the UK will put up with. Why would anyone believe a Conservative MP now when their boss epitomises everything that’s bad? It’s a lost decade and a government of sleaze. Thank you for tabling this motion.

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