Watchdog Organization Criticizes Flawed Conspiracy Guide for MPs
Toby Young noted that the distinction between a ‘conspiracy theory’ and a completely valid theory can sometimes just be the passing of time.
A group advocating for free speech has called on House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt to retract her support for a guide on conspiracy theories for MPs.
Produced in collaboration with the charity Antisemitism Policy Trust, the guide highlighted what it considered to be the harmful effects of such theories on “trust in democratic institutions.”
‘Proliferated’
Commissioned by Ms. Mordaunt, the report was put together by organizations like Full Fact, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). Ms. Mordaunt’s Labour counterpart, Lucy Powell, deemed the guide essential reading for MPs and candidates who play “a crucial role in guiding their communities, speaking out nationally with clarity and truth, and countering mis- and disinformation that can harm communities and our country.”
The guide spotlighted eight conspiracy theories, including 15-minute cities, the Great Reset, and climate lockdowns, which it claimed have “proliferated” in the UK in recent years.
May Turn Out to Be True
FSU General Secretary Toby Young argued that the guide “does not take into account the fact that sometimes the distinction between a ‘conspiracy theory’ and a completely valid theory is simply the passage of time.”
“If lawmakers have solid reasons to believe that a particular viewpoint is false or misguided, such as conflicting evidence, then they should lay out those reasons in parliamentary discussions,” he stated.
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He expressed that the FSU shares the government’s worries regarding the danger posed by antisemitic conspiracy theories to the Jewish community in Britain.
“However, because of the threat they pose, we should refrain from conflating them with valid contributions to ongoing political discussions or bundling them with tentative explanations about why specific public policies are being implemented – such as 15-minute cities – which might end up being true. By doing so, individuals who believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories, or have malicious motives for promoting them, can then use these errors to undermine our efforts to debunk those theories.”
Mr. Young highlighted the absence of any mention in the guide prepared by Full Fact of the conspiracy theories related to Covid-19, like the lab-leak hypothesis suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a Chinese lab and was accidentally released.
The FBI has concluded that COVID-19, the illness caused by the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus, likely started in the Wuhan lab.
Erode Trust
The Conspiracy Theories: A Guide for Members of Parliament and Candidates argues that conspiracy theories are particularly worrisome for democracies as they “erode trust in democratic institutions, including financial institutions, the justice system, healthcare providers, in governments at every level, and in regulated media outlets, undermining the most basic foundations of democratic rule.”
It defines such theories as claims “of the existence of a person or a covert and powerful group of people or an organization with evil intent that seeks to harm or change existing orders. This group is typically portrayed as using intermediaries to assist in concealing and executing its plans. These intermediaries could be politicians, the media, financial institutions, armed forces, or any form of government agency, all working for this ‘dark force’ to fulfill its evil intentions.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Ms. Mordaunt and the Antisemitism Policy Trust for their comments.
