This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament
Rejected petition Giving false evidence in referenda should be treated as a contempt of Parliament
Giving false evidence in Parliament is known as contempt of Parliament and can result in exclusion from office. This rule safeguards the democratic process by ensuring as much as possible that parliamentary action is based on fact. Referenda should commit to those same standards.
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When referenda are held they are in effect an extension of the Parliamentary process. However the rules that prevent the obstruction of Parliament do not apply to referenda, so it is possible to obstruct the democratic process by misleading the public without repercussions.
For the public to make informed decisions information must be factual. Therefore elected officials who knowingly mislead the public during referenda should be subject to parliamentary discipline.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
The rules on the conduct of referendum campaigns are set out in law, not in Parliamentary rules. If you would like there to be penalties for making false statements as part of a referendum campaign, you could start a new petition asking Parliament to change the law.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.