bushy,
In politics, it is perfectly acceptable to lie to the public - at least this is the view from the side that is doing the lying. From the public's side, it is nothing like acceptable to be lied to.
I'm sure you've heard the expression "all's fair in love and war". You could make that "all's fair in love, war and politics" as, for each of these, the end justifies the means - how you get there doesn't matter, as long as you get there.