Have you noticed how little different life is in the new millennium? I tend to write the year in full now ('2000') when I write it on a letter or cheque, but apart from that, life is remarkably the same.

So I will carry on with my monthly meditations, firmly resisting any urge to talk about new beginnings, and such like. In fact I want to talk about a timeless theme, as you can see from the title of this page.

I am beginning to realise how dishonest I am, which is quite an admission for a man of my age. But work, and family, and social life, all bring challenges to one's honesty. And my thinking is moving on just fractionally from what I wrote last month, about ends and means.

In work, so long as we believe our intentions are for the best, we tend to shade the way we represent things to our colleagues. What we say will be factually accurate, but that only makes the dishonesty more powerful. I have noticed it, both when I do it, and when I find it done to me, that the best way to deceive is with the truth. I am defining a true statement as one that is factually accurate.

Suppressio veri, suggestio falsi (omission of the true, hinting at the false) is done most of all by people who have an aim they are sure is good. Politicians, whether in parliament, local councils, or men and women who use the media for political purposes (the most powerful group of all), will use facts selectively to distort and deceive. If you end up thinking what they want you to think, on whatever issue, they have succeeded. And a carefully selected range of facts is the best way to achieve this, for actual lies can be discovered and exposed for what they are.

Hence the famous saying about 'lies, damned lies, and statistics'. Politicians do it all the time, and now there is the professional fact presenter, whom we call a spin-doctor. His job is to present the right selection of the best set of facts, in the most compelling way, so that the public end up believing what the politician wants believed. If any trend is obvious in British politics, the rise of importance of the spin-doctor is very clear.

But we all do it, and that is my point. Sometimes it is simple politeness, and a wish to spare the feelings of a friend. Sometimes we 'know' a particular line of action at work is right, but a superior needs convincing. So we select the best set of facts, and knowingly omit others.

I expect I am as guilty as any one on this score, but I just wanted to set down the concern I am having about it. Is it becoming a habit? How far am I from being a manipulative deceiver? The line I draw is not telling lies. Is that a sound enough line?

Sorry. These are all questions I am asking. I wish I had more answers. But I am sure they are good questions, and ones we all need to face.