Why Politicians cannot be trusted is

This!

Whilst a situation exists that allows a politician to lie to the electorate and yet remain in office, the one wish of his class - namely, that the public respect politicians - will never be achieved.

Only ten days prior to the general election Cameron was saying:

"We have absolutely no plans to raise VAT. Our first budget is all about recognising we need to get spending under control rather than putting up tax."

 Cameron cannot offer the defence that he did not know the true state of the economy as he was given access to the books prior to the election. If he, or his cohorts, did not examine them properly, or ask the right questions, that is not the fault of the electorate.

In the realms of fairness, it has to be said that Cameron did not just deceive the public on VAT, he also misled the electorate on the 're-call' question and on the matter of allowing local referenda. On the first, I do not remember any mention that the re-call of an MP would first depend on a court of his/her peers agreeing to said re-call; neither do I remember any mention that local referenda would not be binding on the local authority. Mind you, when he said that a hung parliament could be disastrous for the country, he was spot-on as just look at what has been imposed on us!

Not that Cameron is alone in the art of deceit - witness this leader in today's Daily Telegraph on the subject of MilibandE's condemnation of the VAT rise. As the editorial points out, Mandelson has confirmed, in his memoirs, that MilibandE was one of those who wished to increase VAT in November 2009 and March 2010. 'Our Ed' should remember that not all the public's memory is as short as his appears to be!

One only has to go to the site "they work for you" and research those supposedly Eurosceptic Conservative MPs who stood on a party manifesto of no further integration with the EU, coupled with the promise to repatriate powers, to find those that supported the introduction of the EU's External Action Service (EU Embassies) and the acceptance of the EIO (European Investigation Order). By their accepting the orders of their party whips, they acknowledge that their duty is to their party and not their constituents - and that is also deceit!

I can but repeat a previous assertion - that our democracy is not just in a mess, it is broken.What is even sadder is that the electorate appear not to even be aware that it has happened - either that, or they do know but don't care. When politicians are elected it is with the hope that they will 'do good', but it also means that they can 'do bad', eventually leading them to do whatever they want. This invariably results in the politicians sucking the life blood out of a country, both financially and socially, whilst not experiencing the effects themselves. In this respect I am reminded of a quotation by Frederic Bastiat:

"When plunder has become a way of life for a group of people living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time, a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it."

One thing is certain and it is that this whole sorry mess will end in tears - but the tears that will be shed will not be those of the people!