Who holds politicians to account? It is is time an independent regulator did.

Following the 2015 election campaign and the more recent EU referendum campaign it is clear that across the entire political spectrum we as ordinary members of the public can no longer trust, at face value, whatever a politician or prospective candidate says.

Time and again we have been lied to, misled and generally had slogans pushed down our throats as some kind of quasi fact.

One of the reasons for this is that there is no arbiter on what constitutes an acceptable statement or fact. The EU Referendum particularly has seen a number of media outlets or social organisations (some semi- political themselves) appoint themselves as fact checkers in order to cut through the constant political / media spin. However, what none of these organisations can do is promote best practice or impose sanctions if and where necessary. This is the kind of action that in most other areas of our lives would be taken by an industry regulator.

There is in fact no regulator of political campaigns in the UK. Only very limited regulations takes place by the electoral commission in terms of spending and Ofcom in terms of TV or radio advertising. 

 

The Advertising Standards Agency states on their website:

“Complaints about political advertising should be made directly to the party responsible for that advertising.”

Is that fair? If a complaint is made about a police service you can make it to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. “Independent” is the key word, if we do not trust the police to investigate themselves why should we trust the politicians and political parties.

The Electoral Commission states that:

“In general, political campaign material in the UK is not regulated, and it is a matter for voters to decide on the basis of such material whether they consider it accurate or not.”

We are being asked to vote on key decisions that will affect everyone's future yet the lack of regulation means a political statement can be made and it does not have to be true or remotely based in fact as long as you can shout the loudest over those that oppose you. How is that working for us so far? Well it has lead to the slanging matches we have seen in both campaigns and when we the voters feel we have been misled it creates further alienation and a detachment from the democratic process.

We have all begun to question what the modern democratic process is all about and how politicians can possibly be trusted.

I believe that a wide ranging public enquiry similar to the Leveson enquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press needs to be set up to answer the following questions:

1) Is there sufficient independent regulation in place to ensure that political campaigns are in general fought on facts and that individuals taking part do so in line with the 7 Nolan principles. Are sanctions required where standards fall below such requirements for either individuals or parties or other political organisations?

2) Should the Advertising Standards Agency (or similar body) be given the authority to regulate all political advertising in the same way they currently regulate product advertising / claims?

3) Should an independent regulator (or similar) have a public duty to promote best practice or quality standards for political campaign material or political campaigns?

4) Should the media (in all forms) be required to include some element of political balance in news articles? (Editorial content would be excluded from political bias)

5) Should the media have a duty to ensure that all arguments are presented to voters as opposed to just those approved by the editorial team?

This list is only indicative of some of the topics that could be considered. I fully accept that if someone is appointed to lead an inquiry then their first difficult job would be to consider the scope and range of the inquiry.

It is imperative that similar to the Leveson inquiry any inquiry should consider views from any individual or group that wishes to comment. An inquiry would be centred around what the public wants our democratic process to look like not what politicians want.

Now is the time to change how politics works, they work for us or at least they should. The public is entitled to make an informed decision with all the facts laid before us.

If you agree with everything I have said then you need to sign the position so we can raise the issues in parliament:

Set up a public inquiry to examine the regulation of political campaigns.

Thank you for joining the fight back to really take back control.

Sources:

From the advertising standards agency:

Political advertising

All complaints of political bias in TV or radio advertising should be made to Ofcom. 

For reasons of freedom of speech, we do not have remit over non-broadcast ads where the purpose of the ad is to persuade voters in a local, national or international electoral referendum. Complaints about political advertising should be made directly to the party responsible for that advertising.

Source: https://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers/What-we-cover/Complaints-outside-remit.aspx

From the electoral commission:

In general, political campaign material in the UK is not regulated, and it is a matter for voters to decide on the basis of such material whether they consider it accurate or not. This includes the design of the material. There is one exception to this, which is making or publishing a false statement of fact in relation to a candidate’s personal character or conduct (not their political views or conduct), unless there are reasonable grounds to believe the statement is true. The Commission does not regulate this rule however, and any allegations should be made to the police.

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/roles-and-responsibilities/our-role-as-regulator-of-political-party-finances/making-an-allegation/what-we-regulate

Nolan principles:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7-principles-of-public-life--2