To mislead parliament

To mislead parliament is to present false information to parliament knowingly, a very serious charge in Westminster-style parliamentary assemblies.^[1][2] Government ministers that are found to have misled parliament will generally lose their ministerial portfolio. By convention, a minister found to have misled parliament is expected to resign or face being sacked. The Scottish Government ministerial code requires ministers to resign if they mislead Parliament.^[3][4] For witnesses giving testimony to an Australian parliamentary committee, giving misleading evidence can be considered a contempt of parliament.^[5]

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• Profumo Affair: John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Soviet spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of Profumo and damaged the reputation of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's government.
• Motorola affair: John Olsen, Premier of South Australia, was forced to resign after misleading parliament.

References

1. "Lateline - 11/08/2003: Latham accuses Howard of misleading Parliament. Australian Broadcasting Corp". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
2. Inside Parliament: Minister's apology fails to satisfy MPs: Handling of 'misleading' answer over Bill for disabled people angers both sides of House - Parliament held in contempt, Speaker told
3. http://www.yousufhamid.com/2009/05/salmond-misleading-parliament.html
4. Scottish Government (June 2008). Scottish Ministerial Code: A code of conduct and guidance on procedures for Members of the Scottish Government and Junior Scottish Ministers (PDF). p. 6. It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to the Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead the Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the First Minister
5. Appearing as a witness at a Parliamentary committee hearing