Byers and Liars

Funny things lies. Read 'As You Like It', where the clown, Touchstone, makes a whole routine about how courtiers know the many forms of the lie. Stephen Byers seems to be hoping he has got away with the 'lie indirect'. The judge has shown he didn't tell the truth, but can't prove he meant to, so can't say he lied. At least the House of Commons are still investigating. The trouble is, we never know what someone thought as they said something untrue. The bar is set at an impossible height if that defines a lie. We might ask whether the speaker could be reasonably be expected to have known the truth and whether it would have been in their interest to have told a lie instead. Both seem to get a yes for Byers. Since he admits to telling the truth, we ought to call it a lie. That sort of robustness is the only route back to trust in politics. You can't 'build trust'; you can only tell the truth and punish liars. Saying you've 'no explanation' for why you told an untruth is no excuse, just the sound of a weasel in a suit.