Political lying is undermining our democracy - I discussed why, and how the Welsh Senedd proposal to sanction political liars can be a solution with @jennifernadel.bsky.social Adam Price MS and ABC's Michelle Ainsworth

Listen here: shows.acast.com/truth-trust-...

Politicians posturing about the Sentencing Council Guidelines are (intentionally or not)
promoting the far-right "two-tier justice" conspiracy theory.

The FR want voters to believe that BAME get secret advantages so they can justify their anti-minority politics. Politicians should call them out.

Politicians are misleading the public about the Sentencing Council guidelines.

The SCG says ALL defendants facing prison should have a PSR unless it's unnecessary.

BAME people are statistically more likely to receive harsher sentences for the same crimes. So PSR is likely to be necessary.

2. The Committee, in essence, adopted the ICDR Model for Senedd members:

It recommended that members who make false statements of fact must be instructed to correct the record or face losing their office.

There has (ironically) been misinformation about the recommendations of the Senedd Committee report on political honesty. I set the record straight this week.

Short 🧵

1. The Committee recommend criminalising politicians who make false statement of fact during election campaigns.

The Lady Chief Justice was right to say that politicians shouldn't publicly attack judges.

Parliament makes law but, once made, it applies equally to everyone and is applied by judges. It's very worrying that politicians are now trying to influence how the *independent* courts decide cases.

"Populists" want people to believe that, court rulings in favour of asylum seekers, sets "asylum seekers' rights vs British people's rights".

It's the opposite. Protecting the human rights of one is protecting the human rights of all.

Populist's real goal is to make people give up their freedom.

3. It's in honest politicians' interests to vote for this.

Extremists and the far-right, more than anyone, benefit from the degradation of our public debate.

Trust in politicians is at its lowest level in history and more than two-thirds of the public support sanctioning lying politicians.

2. The Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR) proposes a two-stage process:

a. If a tribunal rules a politician has made a false statement of fact they must correct the record.

b. If they refused, they have shown an intention to deliberately deceive so should be sanctioned.

Could lying politicians finally be held to account?

Today the Senedd Standards Committee published its report essentially adopting the ICDR Model for a "truth law" to sanction politicians who deliberately lie to the public.

Short 🧵:

1. A truthful public debate is essential for democracy.

AI is dangerous because AI is designed by humans. It replicates our prejudices and flaws on a post-industrial scale (as the UK's disastrous use in immigration showed).

This doesn't mean we shouldn't embrace its potential. But we need real regulation, not just of AI , but of the people behind it.

Honoured that my legal advice on the UK's legal duties re. Gaza was discussed in Parliament in yesterday's Westminster Hall debate.

@globaljusticenow.bsky.social has made my full advice available online www.globaljustice.org.uk/wp-content/u...

UK court today overturned the govt's decision to return two child asylum seekers to Gaza. The court relied on the fundamental right to family life and the exceptional risk to the children in Gaza.

Today I argued that the court protected basic humanity, not just fundamental rights.
#refugees #gaza

It’s all very well to say “we’ll only get rid of jury trials for ‘intermediate’ offences”.

If you’re wrongly accused or a victim of an “intermediate” offence (eg drugs offences) - it’s still life altering.

Gov shouldn’t be deciding which crimes are serious enough for a fair hearing.

Jury trial is the ultimate bulwark for the citizen against the state.

When, in the UK, the last government abused the law to crack down on peaceful protest, juries refused to convict in key cases (eg the Colston 4).

Losing jury trials = losing a key protection against authoritarian ministers

Taking away the right to trial by jury won't solve the court backlog.

The courts budget has been cut by 30% since 2010.

Solving the backlog is easy: Open the courts they've closed. Recruit judges.

Citizens shouldn't have to pay for politicians' bad decisions with our fundamental rights.