Petition · past parliament
Make lies and misleading statements in referenda and elections illegal
Rejected
17 signatures
What the petition asks
Campaign material whether broadcast or on paper can contain direct lies. The liars cannot be prosecuted - such content falls outside the charters of the ASA, OFCOM and the Electoral Commission. In an increasingly complex world we are left choosing which lies to believe, not which truths to accept.
For example, see the claim repeated throughout by Vote Leave that our membership of the EU "costs us £350M per week".
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Timeline
| 25 Jun 2016 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 4 Jul 2016 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
17
Status
Rejected
Rejected
4 Jul 2016
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.