Can this petition stop MPs telling lies?

A petition has been started to put a stop to lying in Parliament. But this is an unusual kind of petition: one that disavows its own aim.

Jolyon Rubinstein, co-creator of The Revolution Will Be Televised, has launched the 'Make Lying in Parliament History' campaign, a call to make the uttering of untruths in Parliament a criminal offence, like perjury—but Mr. Rubinstein says he's not actually seeking to have the law passed. Rather, his aim is to "start a debate about the importance of the truth in politics".

The campaign has enlisted some celebrity supporters, including Russell Brand and Jack Whitehall, to kick off the discussion.

They're broadly correct in saying that it's "legal" for MPs to lie to Parliament, although in principle the House of Commons has its own powers to punish 'contempt', which can include "Members deliberately misleading the House".

The law doesn't generally criminalise dishonesty. Mr. Rubinstein contrasts the legality of lying in Parliament with an exception: the offence of perjury, which makes lying in court a criminal matter because of how reliant the justice system is on witnesses. Perjury "wholly undermines the whole basis of the administration of justice", as Mr. Justice Chapman once said.

Does lying to Parliament—or indeed your constituents—similarly undermine the whole basis of democracy? We certainly think it's a problem, but making it illegal to lie isn't really practical, as this petition acknowledges.

Apart from anything else, not all error that creeps into parliamentary discussions is malicious. Doing a hectic job in a complex world, it's easy for politicians to unwittingly repeat dodgy facts in the flow of debate.

A simple and effective way of giving MPs an incentive to check their facts properly would be to put in place a procedure to publish official corrections to speeches they've made, as Ministers—but only Ministers—are currently required to do. The prospect of repeatedly having to correct themselves could have a salutary effect on parliamentarians.

Over 100,000 people have signed Mr. Rubinstein's petition.