Liars

Liars, they’re everywhere. They work for newspapers, on the telly, in marketing. They are found in the form of solicitors, bankers, politicians, police officers. They even work in major clothes shop chains.

Clothes shop liars may not seem as important in the grand scheme of things as, say, a lying policeman. But that doesn’t make their untruths any less annoying. Whilst shopping, I often find myself gazing disappointedly into the mirror at something which previously looked a lot better hanging on the rack. It is at this point that I am inevitably approached by an overly enthusiastic liar who states incredibly loudly in order to compete with the ridiculous volume of some utterly shit music “I think that really suits you.” Well of course. I expect that everything in this shop ‘suits me’ in the greedy eyes of this eager arsehole. An innocuous little lie you might think. “This shop assistant is just doing his job” you might state. “He’s only trying to make a sale” you may cry. If these are your reactions then unfortunately I must inform you that you are massively wrong. This is just the thin end of the wedge. At no point is ‘just doing your job’ an excuse. If just doing your job involves being a lying shit, then perhaps you should have thought twice before accepting the job in the first place. We have to draw the line somewhere. At what point does lying or acting in ways which are morally dubious stop being ‘just doing your job’ and start to be your responsibility?

A simple yet effective technique used by huge liars such as banks for an example, to help diffuse the anger of anyone who may have been on the receiving end of their malpractice, is to employ an army of front line staff who are happy to work for them and yet inexplicably see no connection between being a corrupt organisation, and offering their services to one. These people take great offence if any criticism of the organisation is aimed directly towards them, even though they happily accepted the paid position of representing said organisation. “I’m just doing my job.” I expect that phrase could be used by the guards at Guantanamo Bay.

Everyone lies, and everyone is lied to. But when you or I lie, it’s usually a spontaneous sort of affair. It doesn’t come immediately after a promise to be “transparent” and it tends not to have an effect on millions of people. But there are some people who are all too used to lying. A certain unsavoury group who have become so accustomed to the ‘art’ of lying that they don’t even have to think about it. It comes so naturally to these people that telling the truth actually becomes an effort. Can you guess which specific group of liars I’m referring to? That’s right, politicians.

In the House of Commons it is not allowed for an MP to refer to another MP as a liar, even if it has been proven that the MP in question has lied in a way which misleads the people of Britain. Now, why is that the case? Surely it is incredibly important for MPs to be labelled as liars if it is proven that they are. What possible reason could there be for this rule? Apparently it exists to preserve the integrity of the House of Commons. I would have thought that having a definite system in place to oust from office on a permanent basis any MP who is found to have deliberately and knowingly lied, would do far more for the integrity of the House than pretending it doesn’t happen.

I would suggest a complete overhaul of how we tolerate the political system’s failings in this country is well overdue. Perhaps if we steered away from the culture of MPs feeling it is their duty to protect us from the truth and into an age of genuine transparency where it is understood by elected officials that the people should know exactly what is happening at all times instead of eradicating our rights to make controlling us easier, then maybe genuine integrity could exist within the House of Commons, instead of papering over the cracks with smarm, spin and more lies.

But what do I know? I’m just a guy who swears at shop assistants who tell me I look nice.