Beware half-truths! In recent years politicians have noticeably increased the use of half-truths or part-truths in order to deceive. That enables them to avoid the accusation of direct lying, whilst having virtually the same effect.
As a recent example, the several times repeated statement that the government has increased police force numbers by around 20,000, making the total number of police the highest ever. True so far as it goes, but – the other part of the truth is that not many years ago the government cut police force numbers by around 20,000, so the recent act is simply restoring things to near where they were. And as for the ‘highest number ever’ claim – it’s marginally true in terms of the absolute number of police, but (a) the population has grown in the meantime, and the number of police per million of the population is therefore still less than it was before, and (b) of the recent additions, many will be in training for some time, so the force is still not as effective as it was.
The moral: When a politician or active supporter of any party makes a big statement, especially during election time, it’s as well to find out what he or she isn’t mentioning before deciding what the truth is.
John Tippler
Spalding
