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Committee on standards in public life report
By Steve Hanlon | November 11, 2008
Following my rambling post the other day about lies in politics, I notice that the Standards Committee has published their report of public attitudes towards the standards of conduct of public office holders.
To paraphrase the summary key findings, we the electorate, think that things are getting worse. Standards of conduct are considered low by 20% compared to 12% in 2004 and 2006. It goes on with other similar stats… that we trust front-line workers more than politicians, etc.
It also appears that the value of “telling the truth” is dropping over time - 47% ranking it amongst the three most important values compared to 53% in previous years. At the same time, “being in touch with what the general public thinks is important” is increasing from 27% to 32%. Is it possible to lie about being in touch? Pick up a couple of Lib Dem “in touch” leaflets, and your heart will sink.
We’ve had years of leaflets from all parties shouting to the electorate that (a) the other lot are liars, cheats and untrustworthy villans and (b) that only we listen and are in touch. It’s no wonder then that the survey shows a trend in that direction.
I hate to think it, but perhaps Guido is right… perhaps the electorate are starting to believe that ‘democracy is about choosing between liars’.
Topics: Politics |