E-petition debate: honesty in politics
On 23 October 2023, two e-petitions, 561730 and 576886, relating to honesty in politics, will be debated in Westminster Hall.
The subject for the debate was determined by the Petitions Committee and the debate will be led by Martyn Day.
E-petition 561730: Make it a criminal offence for MPs to mislead the public closed on 30 May 2021. The petition called for:
A new offence should be created and legal sanctions should be introduced to stop MPs intentionally or recklessly misleading the public. This could restore a degree of trust in the UK's political system.
It received a total of 110,966 signatures.
E-petition 576886: Make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence closed on 14 October 2021. The petition called for:
The Government should introduce legislation to make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence. This would mean that all MPs, including Ministers, would face a serious penalty for knowingly making false statements in the House of Commons, as is the case in a court of law.
It received a total of 133,008 signatures.
In its responses to the e-petitions, the Government said it did not intend to introduce legislation.
The Government's full responses to these petitions and further background on the topic are provided in the debate pack.