‘Dishonesty epidemic infecting Tories’: Conference sparks fresh calls for rules to stop MPs lying
There are fresh calls to clean up politics with stronger rules around lying after senior Tories made false statements around meat taxes and 15-minute cities at their annual party conference.
Green MP Caroline Lucas told Sky News a “dishonesty epidemic is infecting the Tory party” as she called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to acquaint himself with the Nolan Principles of public life – which include that holders of public office tell the truth.
These are not legally binding, but some MPs and academics believe they should be amid a collapse in public trust in UK politicians.
The debate has been reignited after a fractious Conservative Party Conference which, aside from the HS2 fiasco, has been dominated by accusations of MPs lying and peddling conspiracy theories.
Critics point to Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho claiming in a speech that Labour is “relaxed about taxing meat” – something which is not Labour Party policy.
Meanwhile Transport Secretary Mark Harper, in an attack on 15-minute cities, said we should not tolerate “the idea that local councils decide how often you go to the shops” – echoing a conspiracy theory about the planning concept that the government has previously debunked.
The independent charity Full Fact also raised concern about Mr Sunak describing inflation as a tax, saying that is “clearly not technically true”.
Science Secretary Michelle Donelan has also been accused of “making things up” after pledging to “kick woke ideology out of science” while Susan Hall, the Tory mayoral candidate for London, faced criticism for suggesting the Jewish community is scared of Sadiq Khan – a claim Jewish groups have strongly disputed.
It follows a speech Mr Sunak gave on net zero last month in which he claimed to have “scrapped” measures which were never government policy, such as a tax on flying and households being required to own seven bins.
‘Dishonesty epidemic’
Ms Lucas told Sky News: “A dishonesty epidemic is infecting the Tory party. Our political leaders’ socially-distanced relationship with the truth clearly didn’t end with Johnson’s ousting from office – over the past few weeks we’ve seen an escalation of fabrications, falsehoods and downright lies from Rishi Sunak’s government.
“If the prime minister isn’t acquainted with the seven Nolan Principles of public life – including that holders of public office should be truthful – then he shouldn’t be in public life at all.”
Ms Lucas is one of several MPs that supports a bill that would make it a criminal offence for politicians to deliberately lie. Polling by the cross-party group Compassion in Politics, which has drafted the legislation, shows three quarters of the public support the measure.
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Jennifer Nadel, co-director of Compassion in Politics said: “The last few days in Manchester really have put the con in conference.
“Rather than focusing on the major issues of the day – falling living standards, climate change, and crumbling schools – or giving a straight answer on the future of HS2, many Conservative MPs have tried to deflect attention by spreading lies and misinformation. It’s doing a huge disservice to the public and to the members of their own party who are tainted by association.”
‘No rules to prevent lying’
Ms Nadel said that “lying persists because we have no rules to prevent it” and “this has to change”.
She said their bill, if adopted, would bring politics into line with many other professions “which prohibit lying and deception”.
Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, who is the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Compassionate Politics, has also proposed a bill that would put the Ministerial Code on a statutory footing, making lying to the House of Commons a sackable offence.
She told Sky News: “Honesty and integrity should be the cornerstones of our politics but sadly they have been lacking at this week’s Conservative Party Conference.
“Genuine political disagreements are fair game but it is disappointing that the Tories are so devoid of ideas that they have resorted to making things up.”
Tory conference claims fact-checked
In her speech at the conference on Monday, Ms Coutinho said: “It’s no wonder that Labour seem so relaxed about taxing meat, Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t eat it, and Ed Miliband is clearly scarred by his encounter with a bacon sandwich.”
However, taxing meat is not Labour policy and the idea was rejected by Mr Miliband in 2021.
Ms Coutinho was repeatedly pressed about her comments on the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge but was unable to provide any specific evidence or expand upon it, calling it a “light-hearted moment” then going onto talk about the ULEZ charge.
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‘That’s not a meat tax though, is it?’
Commenting on a clip of the exchange on X, former MEP and Conservative politician Charles Tannock said: “Make the Nolan principles statutory and restore public shame on those Ministers who deliberately deceive and lie to the public, otherwise the future and integrity of our precious democracy is in jeopardy.”
The Tories have also been called out over Mr Harper’s 15-minute city comments – including by Carlos Moreno, the academic who invented the concept.
The idea behind them is that everyone in cities should be a 15 minute walk or cycle away from basic amenities, but on Monday Mr Harper claimed they are being “misused” to restrict when people can go the shops and ration who uses roads.
However as pointed out by the charity Full Fact, there is no evidence that councils are attempting to place restrictions on how often residents can go to the shops, or their ability to choose which services they can access – something energy minister Andrew Bowie also suggested when asked about Mr Harper’s comments on BBC Radio Four.
The charity have rebuffed other claims made this week, including Mr Sunak saying in his speech on Wednesday that Labour’s immigration plan would lead to 100,000 asylum-seekers coming to the UK, which they said was an unreliable Conservative Party estimate.
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Steve Nowottny, editor at Full Fact, said this year has seen a “worrying trend” emerge across the political divide, with politicians making policies without putting them into context or supporting them with evidence.
“Trust in politics has been consistently low, and it is deeply disappointing when politicians of any party do not hold themselves to the highest possible standards of accuracy and fairness, as voters rightly expect them to ahead of the next general election,” he said.
Tories ‘party of fact’ insists minister
Last night, Science Secretary Ms Donelan insisted the Conservatives are “the party of fact” when a compilation of outlandish statements made by her colleagues was put to her on BBC Newsnight.
Presenter Victoria Derbyshire said: “There was never a proposal to use seven bins. We can’t find any council that wants to decide how often people can go to shops and Labour have never proposed taxing meat. They are untruths, they are fiction, they are completely and utterly made up and it’s really disrespectful to voters.”
But Ms Donelan said: “I genuinely believe we are the party of facts and evidence.”
The Home Office is looking at what Denmark is doing to cut illegal migration, Sky News understands.
Last month, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood dispatched officials to the Nordic nation to study its border control and asylum policies, which are considered some of the toughest in Europe.
In particular, officials are understood to be looking at Denmark’s tighter rules on family reunion and restricting most refugees to a temporary stay in the country.
Ms Mahmood will announce a major shake-up of the UK’s immigration system later this month, PA is reporting.
Labour MPs are said to be split on the move.
Some, in so-called Red Wall seats which are seen as vulnerable to challenge from Reform UK, want ministers to go further in the direction Denmark has taken.
But others believe the policies will estrange progressive voters and push the Labour Party too far to the right.
It comes as the government continues to struggle to get immigration under control, with rising numbers of small boat crossings in the Channel over the last few months and a migrant, deported under the UK’s returns deal with France, re-entering the country.
Some 648 people crossed the Channel to Britain in nine boats on Friday, according to Home Office figures, bringing the total for the year to 38,223.
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Ms Mahmood wants deterrents in place to stop migrants seeking to enter the country via unauthorised routes.
She also wants to make it easier to remove those who are found to have no right to stay in the UK.
Sources told the PA news agency she was eager to meet her Danish counterpart, Rasmus Stoklund, the country’s immigration minister, at the earliest possible convenience.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Pic: PA
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mr Stoklund likened Danish society to “the hobbits in The Lord Of The Rings” and said people coming to the country who do not contribute positively would not be welcome.
Mr Stoklund said: “We are a small country. We live peacefully and quietly with each other. I guess you could compare us to the hobbits in The Lord Of The Rings.”
“We expect people who come here to participate and contribute positively, and if they don’t they aren’t welcome.”
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The split in Labour was apparent from public comments by MPs today.
Stoke-on-Trent Central Labour MP Gareth Snell told Radio 4’s Today programme that any change bringing “fairness” to an asylum system that his constituents “don’t trust” was “worth exploring”.
But Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome, who is a member of the party’s Socialist Campaign Group caucus, said: “I think these are policies of the far right. I don’t think anyone wants to see a Labour government flirting with them.”
It started with a strong espresso in a simple cafe on a side street in north London.
Several Algerian men were inside, a few others were outside on the pavement, smoking.
I’d been told the wanted prisoner might be in Finsbury Park, so I ordered a coffee and asked if they’d seen him.
Spotting a man resembling the suspect, Tom and camera operator Josh Masters gave chase
They were happy to tell me that some of them knew Brahim Kaddour-Cherif – the 24-year-old offender who was on the run.
One of the customers revealed to me that he’d actually seen him the night before.
“He wants to hand himself to police,” the friend said candidly.
This was the beginning of the end of a high-profile manhunt.
The Algerian convicted sex offender had been at large since 29 October, after he was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth in south London.
Within an hour of meeting the friend in the cafe, he had followed myself and camera operator Josh Masters to a nearby street.
Kaddour-Cherif was accidentally freed five days after the wrongful release of convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu (pictured). They were both arrested separately in Finsbury Park. Pic: Crown Prosecution Service/PA
We weren’t yet filming – he didn’t want any attention or fuss surrounding him.
“Follow me, he’s in the park,” the man told me.
“Follow – but not too close.”
We did.
I was in the same park a few weeks ago after fugitive Hadush Kebatu, the Ethiopian sex offender – also wrongly released from prison – was arrested in Finsbury Park.
It was odd to be back in the same spot in such similar circumstances.
Read more on Tom’s story:
Wrongly released prisoner’s angry reaction
‘I’m glad he’s been arrested‘
As he led us through the park past joggers, young families and people playing tennis, the man headed for the gates near Finsbury Park station.
All of a sudden, two police officers ran past us.
The Met had received a tip-off from a member of the public.
It was frantic. Undercover officers, uniformed cops, screeching tyres and blaring sirens. We were in the middle of the manhunt.
As they scoured the streets at speed, we walked by some of the Algerian men I’d seen in the cafe.
Kaddour-Cherif walked up to a nearby police van as Tom continued to question him
One man near the group was wearing green tracksuit bottoms, a beanie hat and had glasses on.
“It’s him, it’s him,” one of the other men said to me, gesturing towards him.
The man in the beanie then quickly turned on his heel and walked off.
“It’s him, it’s him,” another guy agreed.
The suspect was walking off while the police were still searching the nearby streets.
Josh and I caught up with him and I asked directly: “Are you Brahim?”
You may have watched the exchange in the Sky News video – he was in denial, evasive and pretended the suspect had pedalled off on a Lime bike.
I can only guess he knew the game was up, but for whatever reason, he was keeping up the lie.
Police moved in to handcuff him and used their phones to check an image of the wanted man from one of Sky News’ online platforms
Once his identity was confirmed, Kaddour-Cherif was put into the back of the police van
Moments later, one of the bystanders told me “it is him” – with added urgency.
Only the prisoner knows why he then walked up to the nearby police van – officers quickly moved to handcuff him and tell him why he was being arrested.
Over the next 10 minutes, he became agitated. His story changed as I repeatedly asked if he had been the man inside HMP Wandsworth.
Officers needed confirmation too – one quickly pulled out a smartphone and checked an image of the wanted man from one of Sky News’ online platforms.
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When Tom first caught up with him, Kaddour-Cherif claimed the culprit had left on a Lime bike
“It’s not my f****** fault, they release me!” he yelled at me.
The search was over, the prisoner cage in the back of the van was opened and he was guided in.
I then spoke to another Algerian man who had tipped off the police – he told me he hated sex offenders and the shame he felt over the whole episode.
The community had done the right thing – there were two tip-offs – one to me, one to the police.
The farce of this manhunt had gone on long enough.
UK
Nadjib, who tipped off police over released prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, tells Sky News he’s ‘happy to see him arrested’
“It’s him, it’s him, it’s him”, the man told me urgently.
While police were frantically searching in Finsbury Park for wanted sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, locals were telling me where he was.
Immediately after the dramatic arrest, filmed exclusively by Sky News we spoke to the North African man who tipped off the police.
Sky News filmed Brahim Kaddour-Cherif’s rearrest
Nadjib had been on the lookout for the convicted sex offender, who had been spending time in different parts of north London since his release from HMP Wandsworth.
He even had a folded-up newspaper clipping in his pocket so that he could check the picture himself.
He told Sky News he was “very happy when he got arrested”.
“I don’t like the sex offenders,” he said.
“I know him from the community. He has been around here every night since he was released from prison.”
Nadjib (L) told Sky’s Tom Parmenter he had been looking out for the offender
Not only did he tip the police off about the prisoner’s whereabouts, but he also witnessed the other high-profile manhunt that ended in the same park last month.
Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was also arrested in Finsbury Park after a 48-hour manhunt in the capital. He was then deported to Ethiopia.
Brahim Kaddour-Cherif
“When he [Kebatu] got arrested in the park I was there,” Nadjib said.
I asked him why both men ended up in the same park in north London.
“Because the community, he came here for the community of Algerians,” he said.
Several Algerian people that I spoke to on Friday told me how shameful they thought it was that this sex offender was still on the run.
“Job done,” Nadjib said, before walking off.
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