They made sense in the days when it was unthinkable that Members would deliberately mislead the House, and historically served to guard against inappropriate hyperbole.

These rules serve no purpose in today's House, and are not appropriate today, in a time when certain Members are felt by many to have misled the House time and time again.

It makes a mockery of British democracy, for one MP who uses the term "liar" to be sanctioned, while no action is taken against another to whom many feel the term accurately applies.