Simpol solutions

All the identified candidates in the general election will have received an email from this organisation, whose aims are to inspire citizens around the world "to use their votes in a powerful new way to encourage governments to cooperate to solve global problems - problems like global warming, financial market regulation, environmental destruction, war, and social injustice. Cooperation among governments is essential because these problems cross national boundaries, and because competition to attract investment and jobs means that any government that moved first would make its economy uncompetitive, leading to inflation, unemployment, or even economic collapse. To solve global problems, governments must act together. If all governments act together, simultaneously, everyone wins. But while they fail to cooperate, it's the markets that continue to run politics - not we, the people."

It seems to me that this is just what the EU achieves for its member nations.

Tidal lagoon (continued)

There are those who feel I should have objected to Tim Farron's commitment to the Swansea tidal power scheme when he announced it in Cardiff this morning, in view of my earlier posting about the business side of the scheme. On the contrary, I thoroughly welcome his endorsement of the principle of tidal power. Even if this particular firm is found wanting - and so far we have only Private Eye publicly casting doubts - planning consents are in place so that one potential cause of major delay to the project has been eliminated.

No criminal blame attaches to Conservative candidates

As has always been obvious from the heading, and must have been clear from many posts since it started, this is not an official Liberal Democrat blog. It should be emphasised again that these are my own personal views and not necessarily those of the party.

First of all, may I state that I have no quarrel with the CPS decision not to prosecute any of the candidates in the 2015 election expenses scandal. Indeed, I always was doubtful that criminal charges would succeed (while harbouring the secret hope that at least one of the participants had made a false step!). It is clear that the twenty-odd Conservative candidates investigated by the police, including three Welshmen subsequently elected, were unwitting stooges of Conservative Central Office (CCO) and the mastermind of the 2015 blue battle.

(I am told that there is currently circulating in the Swansea area an "independent magazine" which just happens to boost every Labour policy applying to the city. One imagines that Labour candidates will plead ignorance and omit their share of the benefit from their election expenses, buoyed by the CPS decision.)

Let us be clear. Election offences were committed in 2015. The Electoral Commission (EC) found the Conservative Party in breach of electoral rules and fined the Conservatives what the EC themselves described as a derisory amount, £70,000, the maximum the law currently allows. No doubt the official CCO media release today will imply that the party is guilt-free, but I hope the media will not be blinded.

There was other national campaigning by the Conservative Party which was ruled admissible by the EC, but which one might think occupied a grey area. Before the general election, individual voters in target seats were sent letters from party headquarters tailored to meet their own concerns, picked up during canvassing. To my mind, a stereotyped letter praising the party and distributed to all and sundry is all very well, but when a letter listing detailed policies is individualised it crosses a boundary in my opinion, especially if it emphasises policies which are at variance with the views of the sitting MP - e.g., a pro-Trident statement in a constituency where the MP was known to be anti-renewal.

There is probably little that can be done to stop clever people manipulating the local/national rules. However, where offences are committed, the fines levied should be a real deterrent, commensurate with the benefits the perpetrator expects to receive. Most of all, there should be a sensible cap on national electoral spending. It is wrong for parties to buy elections.

[Later] The Evening Post relays a story in the socialist-leaning Canary that excess electoral expenditure was incurred by the Conservatives in Gower in 2015. I believe the Post gives the Canary more credence than I would, but we shall see.

Swansea barrage doubts

It may not be innate conservatism, but also doubts about the business plan which have caused delay in government approval for the Tidal Lagoon. A Private Eye regular correspondent casts a beady eye on the prime mover's business record.

Theresa May has a long record of chipping away at human rights

I never thought I would endorse an Owen Jones article, but his summary of Mrs May's attitude to equal rights deserves wide distribution:

There was another mainland European election yesterday

Liberals here are justifiably breathing a sigh of relief at the defeat of Marine le Pen by Emmanuel Macron in yesterday's second round in the French presidential election. Le Pen's 35% vote share must give cause for concern, though.

Macron is described as a liberal centrist. That description might also be applied to the Free Democrats in Germany. They saw their vote share increase in the Schleswig-Holstein state elections yesterday, but the headline news was that Angela Merkel's CDU took seats from the socialist SPD, who had previously been the senior partners in the ruling coalition, and that the reactionary AfD gained a foothold.

Next week's North Rhine-Westphalia elections, which will see results from the major industrial belt, will be interesting.

Knee-jerks

Here is a collection of my immediate thoughts in response to the volleys of political items which have been discharged recently. Going backwards from the latest:

One reads between the lines of pronouncements by political leaders. The pledge not to raise taxes made by John McDonnell carefully does not rule out milking employers' National Insurance Contributions nor increasing 0% and 5% VAT rates, such as that which applies to home energy bills.

(Incidentally, the refusal by Mrs May to guarantee the triple lock on pensions may be no more than a tease, and we may well see it included in the Conservative manifesto. After all, the Conservatives have been claiming credit for this LibDem initiative for ages. Tim Farron has done well in early confirming that we will stick with the policy, so that whatever Mrs May does will look like playing catch-up.)

The discussion on Sunday Supplement about Liberal Democrat performance in the recent local government elections missed one important factor: money. The Conservatives are notably well-heeled, Labour has lots of TU money and Plaid Cymru has devoted followers who are prepared to commit a large share of their income to the cause. It showed in the amount and quality of the literature which those parties put out. We are poor cousins by comparison.

I do agree with the consensus on the Radio Wales programme that the party is in danger of painting itself into a corner with our resistance to what Liam Fox calls "a clean break" with mainland Europe. Tim Farron's pro-EU stance has done wonders for the party's coffers in attracting new members. History suggests that enough will stay to provide the MPs and councillors of the future, as in the period leading up to 2006 when we reached our peak representation in Westminster. The Remain platform will also be popular in London and other metropolitan centres. However, we do need to stress our social policies. These are very different from the Conservatives', and the official "opposition" has not been vigorous in contesting Mrs May's agenda.

I am glad to see that recent party announcements, culminating in the welcome pledge to put 1p on income tax to restore the NHS and social services, have largely ignored Brexit. This is important for the nation of Wales and certain regions of England, where there is suspicion or resentment of the EU, but who will suffer hugely if the Conservative social cuts and privatisation of public services continue. Whether the media will play ball is another matter. All the major media have an interest in painting Liberal Democrats as a single-issue party, no matter how many policy statements on domestic issues made by Tim and our spokespeople.

A last thought on that general election timing. Clearly, the major reason for Mrs May's sudden change of mind was the imminence of dozens of investigations into the alleged election campaign overspend by dozens of Conservative MPs, investigations which will presumably be put on the back-burner now. However, another factor may have been the probable Liberal Democrat gain in a by-election in Manchester Gorton, a by-election which will not now take place. Seeing as how most marginal Conservative seats are those in which LibDems are the challengers, Mrs May and her strategic advisers did not want Liberal Democrats seen to be building momentum with a second by-election win in the parliament.

Icon theft in advertising is nothing new

Private Eye magazine has a regular feature on the doings of advertising agencies. It frequently reports on agencies ripping off prize-winning art or the work of other agencies. However, this is nothing new. The striking image of two beauties linking the two American continents, used by Liverpool shipping line Lamport & Holt, was lifted from the promotional brochure for the 1912 Pan-American Exposition. The US National Geographic reports on the research of P.J. Mode, a retired lawyer who collects maps that were specifically designed to persuade people in one way or another.

When the original logo was created, the artist, Raphael Beck, was selected from among 400 applicants, and a beauty contest was held to find two women to serve as models. “This logo was plastered everywhere, on things from the Pan-American Exposition,” Mode says. “And 10 years later, this steamship company, the Lamport & Holt Line, stole the image and put it on their advertising.”

The whole National Geographic article, on the power of maps as a tool of persuasion, is fascinating.