After a decade of spin and short-term headline grabbing actions, we currently have a proposal for something of political significance - a bill on the misrepresentation of the truth.
It's being proposed as an early day motion. What's interesting for me, is who has signed up to the EDM?.
Liberal Democrats - 8 MPs
Plaid Cymru - 2 MPs
Labour - 3 MPs.
So how many Conservative MPs? None, zilch, a big fat zero. The only whiff of a Conservative opinion is given on the Ministry of Truth site, and yes it's an objection in principle to an act requiring that elected representatives don't lie.
Cameron recently spoke at the Google Zeitgeist conference and spoke of "In the post-bureaucratic era, you shouldn't just be telling government what you want. You should be choosing what you want, and acting to get what you want" - well we are trying.
He quoted Edmund Burke, so I'll use two more of his quotes to explain the problem.
First, "Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises; for never intending to go beyond promises; it costs nothing."
Cameron quotes the wisdom of the crowd, however this idea is based upon the Marquis de Condorcet's work. The crowd can be either completely right or completely wrong, and the factor controlling this is access to correct information.
Unless we have the correct information, the crowd is unlikely to make the right choices - we need the truth.
So what to do about it? Well back to Edmund: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
This is exactly what the Conservative party is doing on this matter - nothing; hollow words and no action. To think, I was even starting to consider voting for them.
If you believe in a post-bureaucratic era and the wisdom of the crowd.
If you trust the people.
If you believe in social responsibility rather than central control.
Then give us the right to be told the truth. Cameron, don't just talk but do something and lead.
