Martina Devlin: Truth is first casualty of general election as weary British head for ballot booths

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak during Wednesday's televised debate. Photo: BBC

Martina Devlin

Imagine if every political leader fighting a general election had to swallow a truth serum before going to the people. Consider how much easier it would be for voters to decide where to mark their ballot paper.

“I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough” or “I made promises I could never keep” would be heard more often than improbable pledges to reduce taxes while improving services.