E-petition debate: honesty in politics

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.