Punish demonstrably misleading statements made during referenda and elections

Rejected 16 signatures

What the petition asks

Currently, misleading parliament is properly punished to prevent nation-affecting decisions being based on poor information.

We believe a senior figure in a referendum or general election campaign should be held to similar standards, with action being as timely as possible.

The recent referendum on Britain's membership of the EU has seen repeated assertions that we send £350 million a week to Brussels, with subsequent claims that we would be able to reallocate that same amount upon leaving.

The UK Statistics Authority, along with many other organizations, declared this to be misleading and yet the claim was repeated verbally, in campaign materials, on posters and on the side of campaign buses. This simply should not have been allowed to continue.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

We have a number of similar petitions already open on the site. You might like to sign one of these. For example:

Ban politicians from office who lie or deliberately/knowingly deceive the public

Timeline

25 Jun 2016	Petition opened for signatures
12 Jul 2016	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 16

Status Rejected

Rejected 12 Jul 2016

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