What a difference a lie makes. We appear to have a new type of lie. A lie to the media is certainly not a crime but it now seems to be – for those who deem themselves to be above the masses – not a real lie and not a problem either.

A lie to the media is just one of the PR options to be deployed when it seems like the best tactic. Not really an issue, say sorry if you are caught out but that's not a big deal because saying sorry is just another wheeze to use when your PR advisers say it would look good. You don't have to actually be sorry.

Sometimes contrition is the right look, at other times aggressive defence. If you are not telling the truth but that cannot actually be proved then saying "I can't recall" 50 times is another choice. Sometimes tears work a treat too. All just more arrows in the quiver of deception deployed by politicians and their ilk.

Except that this nonsense doesn't really wash with the public. We can feel the lie, smell it, see it in their eyes. We are not fooled and we don’t like it. Those who are supposed to serve us take us for idiots. They degrade themselves and politics and our country. They decrease our interest in the democratic process and corrode our faith in our leaders.

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