The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism

by Peter Oborne

Political lying is a form of theft. It takes away people’s democratic rights. Voters cannot make fair judgements on the basis of falsehoods.

Cynicism lazily lumps virtuous public servants with charlatans, equates lies and truth, and makes political discourse meaningless.

In the political sphere, we cannot replace a poorly performing government with a potentially better one, if, by successful lying, that government has denied us the means of conceiving of one. George Orwell made this point the central theme of his dystopian novel 1984.

He is wonderfully gifted at playing Bertie Wooster while others pursue on his behalf the agenda of Roderick Spode.

The doctrine of the frailty of man also explains the stress laid by conservatives on apparently minor matters – due process, proper note taking, grammar, good manners and, above all, truth telling. Conservatives sense that human imperfection means that plans for far-reaching change are likely to go wrong. So they prefer to concentrate on smaller matters over which we have direct control.