Small wonder young people are becoming less honest, given the example they are set.
.
For many years, those who complained of a decline in moral standards in British society were greeted with derision, and informed that they were old-fashioned and out of touch.
.
Yet the evidence keeps on piling up.
.
In whatever area you care to mention.
.
Personal responsibility.
.
Public behaviour.
.
Neighbourliness.
.
Truth-telling
.
There is no question that in the space of little more than a single generation, Britain has experienced a catastrophic collapse.
.
The rot started at the top.
.
Much changed under the Blair government where, incredibly, it became normal for the prime minister’s official spokesman to lie on the record.
.
Tony Blair himself repeatedly deceived Parliament, often on vital issues involving peace and war.
.
Meanwhile, he exploited his position as prime minister to obtain favours such as free holidays, discounted goods and other inducements.
.
A pattern which has continued or accelerated after leaving office.
.
This amorality spread to MPs.
.
The 2005‑10 parliament was probably the most corrupt since the 18th century.
.
Its members lied, cheated and sometimes falsified documents in order to obtain expenses fraudulently.
.
The problem was so widespread that when David Cameron came to form his government, he felt that he had no choice but to include some of the most notorious expenses abusers.
.
In a very unpleasant irony, one of them, Francis Maude, is at the Cabinet Office, where he is in part responsible for issues of integrity inside his own Cabinet.
.
More recently, we have learnt that much of the media and in particular Rupert Murdoch’s News International has been systemically corrupt, bribing police officers and seeming impervious to the basic law of the land.
.
Politicians have been shamefully complicit in this process, especially Blair and Cameron.
.
The Prime Minister’s decision to employ Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who has since been arrested, as Downing Street’s director of communications remains the worst episode of his premiership.
.
Overall, standards at the highest levels of British life – infecting Downing Street, Parliament, the media, the police and much else besides – have sunk so low that yesterday’s report from Essex University, finding that Britain has become a more dishonest and cynical country over the past decade, came as no surprise.
.
The study finds that Britons are significantly more likely to lie and cheat than we were 10 years ago.
.
Those aged over 45 remain decent people, but attitudes have changed sharply for the worse among the young.
.
Yet we should pause before condemning these youngsters.
.
They are merely replicating the self-interest and contempt for decency and standards they see among the most powerful people in our society, whether prime ministers, newspaper editors, or police chiefs.
.
If Tony Blair can lie to Parliament about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and get away with it, or David Cameron hire the appalling Coulson as his No 10 spokesman, why on earth should a teenager feel even a twinge of conscience when he steals money or dodges fares?
.
Less than 20 per cent of the British population, according to the Essex University report, would hand back money they found in the street.
.
That’s halved from just under 40 per cent a decade ago.
.
We could guess it was closer to 80 per cent in the post-war period.
.
It is time to ask: what sort of nation have we become?
.
More than 60 per cent of us are prepared to lie, and 30 per cent would contemplate buying goods we know to be stolen.
.
Some say that we were always like this.
.
We just don’t believe it.
.
There was an era, and not very long ago, when the British were famous through the world for our honesty, decency, courtesy and good manners.
.
Now we are fast becoming a nation of liars and cheats, and this is a process that is being encouraged by the terrible example seen at the top.
.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and one of the most important jobs of a prime minister is to set the tone for the nation as a whole.
.
Mr Cameron has an opportunity to do this, and is so far failing by not pushing for full disclosure of lobbying and special interest groups in legislation now making it's way through parliament.
.
Something new has to happen.
.
The great British public that prefers to do nothing has finally to raise itself and make the Prime Minister and his fellow MPs aware that the normal bullshit of spin and deception has gone too far.
.
Time to behave as you want us to behave your lies and deceit have gone too far.
.
For many years, those who complained of a decline in moral standards in British society were greeted with derision, and informed that they were old-fashioned and out of touch.
.
Yet the evidence keeps on piling up.
.
In whatever area you care to mention.
.
Personal responsibility.
.
Public behaviour.
.
Neighbourliness.
.
Truth-telling
.
There is no question that in the space of little more than a single generation, Britain has experienced a catastrophic collapse.
.
The rot started at the top.
.
Much changed under the Blair government where, incredibly, it became normal for the prime minister’s official spokesman to lie on the record.
.
Tony Blair himself repeatedly deceived Parliament, often on vital issues involving peace and war.
.
Meanwhile, he exploited his position as prime minister to obtain favours such as free holidays, discounted goods and other inducements.
.
A pattern which has continued or accelerated after leaving office.
.
This amorality spread to MPs.
.
The 2005‑10 parliament was probably the most corrupt since the 18th century.
.
Its members lied, cheated and sometimes falsified documents in order to obtain expenses fraudulently.
.
The problem was so widespread that when David Cameron came to form his government, he felt that he had no choice but to include some of the most notorious expenses abusers.
.
In a very unpleasant irony, one of them, Francis Maude, is at the Cabinet Office, where he is in part responsible for issues of integrity inside his own Cabinet.
.
More recently, we have learnt that much of the media and in particular Rupert Murdoch’s News International has been systemically corrupt, bribing police officers and seeming impervious to the basic law of the land.
.
Politicians have been shamefully complicit in this process, especially Blair and Cameron.
.
The Prime Minister’s decision to employ Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who has since been arrested, as Downing Street’s director of communications remains the worst episode of his premiership.
.
Overall, standards at the highest levels of British life – infecting Downing Street, Parliament, the media, the police and much else besides – have sunk so low that yesterday’s report from Essex University, finding that Britain has become a more dishonest and cynical country over the past decade, came as no surprise.
.
The study finds that Britons are significantly more likely to lie and cheat than we were 10 years ago.
.
Those aged over 45 remain decent people, but attitudes have changed sharply for the worse among the young.
.
Yet we should pause before condemning these youngsters.
.
They are merely replicating the self-interest and contempt for decency and standards they see among the most powerful people in our society, whether prime ministers, newspaper editors, or police chiefs.
.
If Tony Blair can lie to Parliament about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and get away with it, or David Cameron hire the appalling Coulson as his No 10 spokesman, why on earth should a teenager feel even a twinge of conscience when he steals money or dodges fares?
.
Less than 20 per cent of the British population, according to the Essex University report, would hand back money they found in the street.
.
That’s halved from just under 40 per cent a decade ago.
.
We could guess it was closer to 80 per cent in the post-war period.
.
It is time to ask: what sort of nation have we become?
.
More than 60 per cent of us are prepared to lie, and 30 per cent would contemplate buying goods we know to be stolen.
.
Some say that we were always like this.
.
We just don’t believe it.
.
There was an era, and not very long ago, when the British were famous through the world for our honesty, decency, courtesy and good manners.
.
Now we are fast becoming a nation of liars and cheats, and this is a process that is being encouraged by the terrible example seen at the top.
.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and one of the most important jobs of a prime minister is to set the tone for the nation as a whole.
.
Mr Cameron has an opportunity to do this, and is so far failing by not pushing for full disclosure of lobbying and special interest groups in legislation now making it's way through parliament.
.
Something new has to happen.
.
The great British public that prefers to do nothing has finally to raise itself and make the Prime Minister and his fellow MPs aware that the normal bullshit of spin and deception has gone too far.
.
Time to behave as you want us to behave your lies and deceit have gone too far.
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