Ministers lying to Parliament undermines democracy, ethics chief says

Ministers lying to Parliament undermines democracy, the PM's adviser on standards in public life has said.

Lord Evans said people were right to be concerned about politicians telling the truth.

He welcomed the work of the Privileges Committee, which found then-PM Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over lockdown parties in No 10.

Lord Evans added that the committee's report highlighted that telling the truth "is something that matters".

The outgoing chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, who is standing down this month after the end of his five-year term, was speaking at an event hosted by the Institute for Government think tank.

Asked about public concern over the honesty of politicians, Lord Evans said: "Members of the public concerned about truth-telling are right."

He added: "I think that it is a fundamental undermining of parliamentary democracy if ministers lie to Parliament because accountability can't work if you can't get truth out of those who are accounting for their actions."

Praising the work of the Privileges Committee on Partygate, he said politicians telling the truth was "a really important issue".

Mr Johnson was the first former prime minister to be found to have deliberately misled Parliament by the committee, when he told the House of Commons Covid rules had been followed at all times in Downing Street.

He branded the committee a "kangaroo court" and denied misleading Parliament on purpose.

But facing a 90-day suspension from Parliament and a by-election in his constituency, Mr Johnson stood down as an MP ahead of the committee's report being published in June.

The petition has been signed by more than 100,000 people and is due to be debated by MPs next week, although the government has already said it does not intend to introduce this change.

Lord Evans, a non-party cross-bench peer, said he did not think it would be right to change the law to make lying in Parliament a criminal offence as "ultimately people have to make their judgement at the ballot box".

He added that it was important for politicians to "endorse truth-telling" and if they made errors they should correct them.

Politicians who inadvertently make an inaccurate statement to Parliament are expected to correct their mistake at the earliest opportunity.

In another veiled criticism of Mr Johnson, Lord Evans said the Owen Paterson scandal in November 2021, which he described as "the attempt to tear up the independent system for maintaining standards in Parliament", was "scandalous" and undermined public confidence.

Then-Conservative MP Mr Paterson was found to have broken Commons lobbying rules but Mr Johnson's government tried to block his suspension from Parliament and get the disciplinary process for MPs reviewed.

The plan was abandoned a day later, after an outcry from opposition MPs and some Tories, with Mr Paterson subsequently resigning.

Lord Evans told the event the abuse and intimidation of those in public life was "perhaps the most serious problem" he had come across in his tenure.

He said there had been progress in recent years but "intimidation across public life remains a big issue".

"It's hugely damaging to democracy and is a major factor in putting people off serving in public roles," he added.

Lord Evans said from speaking to politicians about the issue in recent years it was clear several MPs had "voted against their conscience and judgement" because of "fear of what would happen if they voted the other way".

"That is a really serious undermining of parliamentary democracy," he added.