British tell 657 lies a year – and banks to blame

BRITISH people tell 657 lies each a year – and most blame their dishonesty on bankers and MPs, a survey revealed yesterday.

Four in five of those polled said lies were now a part of day-to-day life – something they attributed to a “modern expectation of scandal” among public figures.

Despite the recent outcry over MPs’ expenses, 41% of people admit to over-claiming at work. Nearly half of respondents also admitted to stealing a small item from a shop, travelling on a train without a ticket or purposely damaging purchased goods to get their money back.

Meanwhile, nearly one in three said they had asked for a refund on worn clothing, kept the cash after finding a wallet, made a false insurance claim or stolen from a supermarket while going through the self-check-out.

Some 88% of those polled said dishonesty among authority figures alleviated their guilt.

According to the study, people are now more likely to lie to financial institutions because of the behaviour of banks.

Nine out of ten people said modern communication – including social networks and mobile phones – made it easier to lie, with email the favoured medium. This was followed by text, the internet and then the phone.

While respondents said they were more likely to tell “white lies” to friends, serious falsehoods are most likely to be directed at big companies, it found.

David Thomson, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the Chartered Insurance Institute, which commissioned the survey, said major firms needed to lead by example. “There has clearly been a breakdown in ethics across the entire spectrum of society and the decline in trust in institutions is at the heart of this.

“The responses from the public show that once trusted institutions should be doing more than just acting legally,” he said.