lies

[jimmer]

the torries are calling labour liars. i was wondering if anyone new of an unwritten rule that politicians could not accuse the government of lying?

[archbishop]

jimmer - we all know that politicians stretch the truth. Look at the Hutton inquiry for one. If one party calls the other party LIARS then the other party should respond and say No we are not and explain why. I would say though that if one called the others liars then there is usually a good reason.

[Hippy]

The rule here applies to things said in the Chamber of the House of Commons. It is "unparliamentary language" to accuse another member of being a liar. The Speaker can and does banish MPs from the chamber for unretracted accusations using the word "liar". The Member is usually given an opportunity to withdraw the remark first.

Florid terms have been used over the years to get round this ruling, famously Winston Churchill's "terminological inexactitude". MPs are not bound by these conventions outside Parliament, so they can have ding-dong slanging matches in public and spit out the dummy as much as they want.

[incitatus]

the problems of unparliamentary language are legion. terminological inexactitude was allowed but economical with the truth was not. also its apparently fine to refer to the PM as a sex starved boa constrictor.

[FredPuli]

No rule but it's a very stupid thing to do. It may alienate your own supporters who regard it as a bad sign when your leader is doing it because it looks desperate . If it is obviously true then the electorate don't need to be told. If it isn't then IDS saying it won't make it so. It certainly alienates floating voters, who regard abuse as a poor substitute for persuasion or argument. It cheers the opposition no end, for the previously cited reasons.