It’s official: our politicians follow the 7 principles of public life

Of course, they follow the 7 principles …

Ever had an email from the PM’s office?

Contents

As communiqués from the government to petitioners go, the wording was stiff as a golf pro’s driver.

I signed a petition with 74,000+ others around the time of the Brexit misdirection. A reply came back from our government today. I’ve listed the 7 words. You can get the full text here.

Abiding rules

As a citizen, I’m genuinely pleased to get a formal response to a petition I supported … even if angered/dismayed by the content the response:

The 7 principles of public life apply to those who hold public office. This includes people who are elected or appointed to public office, nationally and locally.

The principles also form the basis of ethical standards expected of holders of public office as set out in their respective Codes of Conduct.

Cabinet Office to me and 74K+ other citizens, 22 July 2016

7 principles of public life

Selfless
(with) Integrity
Objective
Accountable
Open
Honest
(be a) Leader

Was the Brexit Misdirection a one-off?

The 7 principles are reassuring, then memory clicks in, something to do with the NHS. No, no, not Jeremy Hunt’s wish to stop the NHS presence in the Olympic games opening. Interesting stooshie all the same. Although it’s widely accepted this happened, the quote from officials was reassuring:

A spokesman for Mr Hunt at the time denied the claim and said he was “delighted” with the ceremony and “fully endorsed” Mr Boyle.

What triggered my memory was a recent conflict between the Government and a select committee about misleading statements on NHS funding, the Government said, “we reject these conclusions.”

Ministers in England have given the wrong impression about how much extra they are spending on health, MPs say. BBC 19 July 2016

A Standard for Brexiteers and Bremainers

My next question is easy: who amongst our politicians lives up to the “7 principles”. Brexit trumps the lot, and right now my hopes rest on seven words:

Selfless
(with) Integrity
Objective
Accountable
Open
Honest
(be a) Leader

Wondrous stuff. Is there a Hypocritic Oath in there somewhere. Will our legal protectors have the courage to challenge the fraudulent?