Lies, Damn Lies and the BBC
No matter what happens in the election there is one certainty that has been with us throughout the campaign: there has been an unprecedented amount of disinformation and lies spread right across mainstream and social media.
To some extent we have got to a point in our politics where we almost expect the truth to be stretched by our politicians but when, during the first TV debate, the Conservative Party Headquarters rebranded their Twitter account as ‘factcheckUK’ it was clear that the types of action were approaching electoral fraud.
The line was eventually crossed on the eve before polls opened. Not by any of the main parties but rather the political editor of the BBC, Laura Kuenssberg. Without repeating exactly what she said here, Kuenssberg gave a very clear indication of which way she had thought the result of the postal votes had gone. That is in complete contradiction to s. 66A(1)(a) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 which states:
“No person shall, in the case of an election to which this section applies, publish before the poll is closed – any statement relating to the way in which voters have voted at the election where that statement is (or might reasonably be taken to be) based on information given by voters after they have voted.”
When politicians lie the hope is that the educated voter will research the key issues before heading to the polls but when it is the state broadcaster that is flagrantly breaching electoral law it leaves precious little hope for a free and fair election.
Make a difference today,
Marcus