John Rentoul: Truth is, spotting a lie is pointless
The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It was a bad idea for David Cameron to accuse Labour of "lies" during the election campaign, although at the time it was not obvious why. "You are getting letters from the Labour Party that say the Conservatives would cut the winter fuel allowance, would cut the free bus travel, would cut the free TV licence," Cameron said on 23 March. Bob Dole's 1988 presidential campaign never recovered from telling George Bush Snr to "stop lying about my record" after losing the New Hampshire primary. Cameron knew that the mere word association of "elderly" and "winter fuel" provokes a public reaction so powerful that he could not stand against it, certainly not in the middle of an election campaign.
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