Politicians need to know we are sick of being treated as stupid - Christa Ackroyd

Okay probably not if you have a house worth more than £2million but then that isn’t most of us is it?

And the conclusion I have come to is that no she didn’t. She was simply, as my father used to put it being ‘economical with the truth’.

You see there are three kinds of lie. One is a downright deliberate decision to say black is white and stick by it knowing of course what you are saying is the exact opposite of the truth.

A foolish decision – as we must never forget something else my father used to instill into me – truth always wins.

And although it is something I have had cause to doubt down the years, it does. Though it may take some time to expose.

Then there are the second kind of lies; white lies, of little consequences maybe to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.

“Do you like my hair?” “Yes it’s lovely” kind of responses when actually you don’t. I don’t mind those, they are designed usually to avoid unnecessary angst.

And then there’s the third kind, the ones my father used to look me in the eye and say “Christa I am not saying you are fibbing (the word lie had to be a massive misdemeanour) but are you simply being economical with the truth?”

In other words what are you not telling me. And it is the latter which I believe Rachel Reeves fell into. And she had absolutely no reason to risk it.

Why not say straight out look I have just had some figures from the Office of Blah Blah which shows we are actually doing better than I thought.

However there is so much more I want to do with the country’s money and here is how I want to spend it. Oh and £4 billion of slack which I would have had isn’t enough.

Because that would be the truth. I cannot believe as we approach yet another anniversary of the war in Ukraine that we and they are still where we are.

The so called peace deal brokered by Trump was nothing short of capitulation. Ukraine would not have existed with any strength. Vital routes would have been given away.

They would have permanently been blocked from joining NATO and also told to halve their ability to fight back with a reduction in their armed forces.

No one in their right mind could have agreed to that especially a man thrust onto the world stage who has become a hero in the strength of leadership he has shown us and his country.

So if Trump spits his dummy out or gets bored as he usually does and the Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t come knocking we are going to have to find the money along with other European countries to take up the slack.

And that could well be more than the £4 billion the chancellor has left to play with. But it will be necessary to safeguard us all.

So let’s look at what she did do which her critics say she had no need to while balancing the books. She ended the three child cap on benefits. And here I totally agree.

It isn’t the child’s fault if they are living in poverty and too many of them are. And if that measure takes them out of it I cannot rail against the Chancellor’s decision to prevent hundreds and thousands of them living a poor life.

Children in poverty have poorer outcomes. They are often born with health issues or they develop them in later years.

A perfect example of this was at a fundraiser I attended this week to support the neonatal unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary in their efforts to provide living accommodation for families of poorly babies.

The high numbers that need their help are a direct correlation to the poverty levels in the city and I didn’t say that, the Matron in charge did.

So both they and the Chancellor, by improving childhood chances, are both helping to secure healthier futures. And that is good for all of us. Why oh why didn’t she just say that?

Why oh why are politicians so intent on not telling it as it is? Guess what ? We can take it. We are big girls and boys .

But to all politicians hear this. We are sick of being treated as stupid. We are not. We are equally sick of the blame game. Do what you have to do and take ownership of it.

Oh and stop testing the policies you think we might not like by leaking information to gauge public reaction.

Let us go back to when the contents of the Chancellor’s little red briefcase were sacrosanct and secret and just get on with it without all the procrastinations.

So let us get back to truth. All my life I have been, I hope, the kind of journalist who seeks the truth. Not the one who joins in with their opinions, apart from obviously with you on this page.

It has always been my job to uncover the truth when it has been hidden. And then present the facts.

The sad fact is that kind of journalism is dying out. You, dear readers, in buying this newspaper protect in part it’s survival.

Sadly, politicians have been going the way of the world, presenting the facts as they see them, hiding those they believe may be unpopular and calling that truth.

In an era where the vast majority of people seemingly find their ‘truth’ on social media it is a dangerous precedent and it has to stop.

It is not who wins the war of the iPhones, or enlists the skill of the sound bites we deserve. I and everybody else want politicians who spell it out, explain why they are doing this and leave us to sit in judgement.

I do not know now what the truth is regarding a black hole in the economy and how much needed filling. I absolutely believe that with war, Covid and Brexit a black hole there will have been.

But how big I am now uncertain and that does not fill me with confidence.

However I do not want that confidence or indeed the world confidence shaken regarding my country which despite politicians best efforts is not as divided as they try and make it, is still proud and will ultimately fail if politicians shake our belief that it is still a country worth fighting for.

Truth wins. Half truths are muddy. And being economical with the truth serves no one. Because as my old dad used to say ‘Christa just spit it out, because truth is easier for you and easier for me to decide whether the answer will be yes, or no. Because it always catches up with you in the end.’

And he was right.

I suggest all politicians take a lesson from my dad. And just spit it out .. the good news and the bad.

Because it is only they who will suffer when that trust is broken. Here endeth the lesson.