Electric car batteries: France leads us four to one

 The UK, after one false start (Britishvolt) is on the brink of making a deal with Tata to build a factory to produce much-needed lithium-ion batteries. With the legal end of IC-powered cars fast approaching, the Bridgwater plant will come none too soon.

Meanwhile, France has just commissioned a new plant which will start production later this year. Three more battery plants are planned for northern France, Reuter reports;

The development by Automotive Cells Company, a joint-venture between Stellantis (STLAM.MI), Mercedes (MBGn.DE) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), involves total investment of 2 billion euros ($2.20 billion) - with the French state and local authorities providing nearly half.

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It highlights the race between European governments to attract global car makers as they seek to bring the supply of components for electric vehicles closer to their main markets.

"ACC's new plant marks a key milestone in Europe's transformation to make its auto industry more resilient, competitive, and sustainable, also in the electric era," Ola Källenius, Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz, said ahead of the inauguration.

The plant will start production of lithium-ion batteries later this year with an initial capacity of 13 gigawatt hours (GWh), to be ramped up to around 40 GWh, enough to fit some 500,000 cars a year. It is expected to help create up to 2,000 jobs by 2030, the companies and regional authorities have said.

Where has this woman been for the last decade?

 "Di Laccio is also the founder and curator of the charitable foundation Donne - Women in Music, which makes a positive change and to readdress the gender inequality within the music industry."

The soprano Gabriella Di Laccio was interviewed by Ben Boulos on BBC News' business programme this morning. She gave the impression that she alone was fighting the gender inequality in music, disregarding the strides which have been made just in the last decade. UK has a female Master of the King's Music for the first time in our history. At least two British orchestras, including BBC's National Orchestra of Wales, have women as principal conductors. It is surprising that Boulos did not tax Di Laccio on this.

All right, it is not nearly enough, but I remember the days when the only woman in a London orchestra would be the lady harpist. Things were slightly better outside the capital, but the fact that I remember seeing a young woman in the ranks of the Royal Liverpool wind-players shows how rare they were even as late as the 1960s.

Things have changed on the composing front, too. We have not done as well historically as France - Farrenc, Viardot, Boulanger, Jaell, Tailleferre and especially Chaminade come immediately to mind - but we have been catching up, culminating in Judith Weir's appointment. A few years back, I had a competition with a Facebook friend as to how many British women composers we could name and if I recall correctly the total was over thirty - and that was before Isobel Waller-Bridge came to the fore.

Now we need a woman conducting the Last Night of the Proms who is not Marin Alsop.

Everton stay in Premier League... possibly

 Everton FC did what was necessary on the football field yesterday in order to extend their 70-year membership of the top tier of English football. In Sean Dyche they have the calibre of manager to keep them there. However, hanging over the club is a Premier League investigation into breaches of financial fair play rules. The Liverpool Echo reported on 25th March:

The Premier League revealed its belief Everton have a case to answer in a statement issued publicly on Friday afternoon. That followed a referral made earlier that day by the organisation of “an alleged breach of the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules”. The precise details of the accusation Everton face were not released but the club will have the opportunity to defend itself in front of an independent commission appointed by Murray Rosen KC, the chair of the Premier League Judicial Panel. The case will be heard in private but its conclusion will be made public. Should Everton be found to have been in breach of the regulations, which they have made clear they deny, possible sanctions include a fine or points deduction.

The breaches in question clearly occurred before the 2022/23 season, and the club has been cooperating with the League to ensure compliance with financial regulations. This may be enough to ensure that any penalty, if Everton are found guilty, will not involve a points deduction. There will, however, be pressure from Leicester City, the only team which stands to gain if Everton are relegated.

What would Lord Denning say?

In a High Court ruling against the Attorney-General in January 1977 Lord Denning, in his distinctive Hampshire accent said: "To every subject of this land, however powerful, I would use Thomas Fuller's words over three hundred years ago, 'Be ye never so high, the law is above you'.." 

From Boris Johnson down, there has been a pattern of ministers in recent Tory governments putting themselves above the law, or at least from the ministerial code which provides an ethical framework for the conduct of government business. This web page cites 40, and that was before the accusation that Suella Braverman misused her civil servants at the Home Office.

Perhaps Tory candidate manifestos in future should contain the words: "Vote for me and against the rule of law".

Finland shows the way on "fake news"

Yesterday's i newspaper told how primary school children in Finland  are taught "how to traverse the turbulent and often toxic digital landscape so that they can assess news stories, challenge conspiracy theories, handle data and spot hate speech".

The article goes on:

These are the children of Generation Z - digital natives of the post-truth age, brought up from infancy using the internet, social media, tablets and mobile phones. Yet in Finland, a country famous for one of the world's finest and most equitable education systems, they are also taught critical thinking, from an early age  to help them resist the flood of fake news and conspiracy theories.

The UK would do well to learn from these lessons, too, Democracies face increasingly fraught online struggles against dictatorships, fanatics and fraudsters, with artificial intelligence looming to make the fight even harder - so we need to do everything possible to equip our own children for the realities of the world in which they live.

When early years education in Wales was overhauled by Kirsty Williams and her team, the Finnish system was borne in mind. I would like to think that Jeremy Miles, MS for Neath and the current education minister, is looking to Finland again.

Police in London and Cardiff need to answer questions

 Yesterday, a lady finally gave up the ghost after being struck by a police motorcyclist on 10th May. The outrider was part of a police escort for Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, the King's sister-in-law. One has to accept that in these dangerous times even minor royalty needs protection. However, questions must arise as to whether Metropolitan Police standards are going down. It is understood that police enquiries are continuing, with more witnesses to the incident being sought. An independent inquiry should not be ruled out.

On the same day, two teenagers died in a suburb of Cardiff after being followed by a police van. South Wales Police initially denied that a pursuit had taken place until independent domestic surveillance footage submitted to the BBC showed the teenagers on an electric bike being followed by the van. There was then a more nuanced statement from the police who admitted that the pair had been followed for a time but suggested that it had not been a "pursuit" because the van was not sounding its siren or flashing its lights. Further, there was no police vehicle within fifty yards of the scene of the fatal crash. Locals later pointed out that this was because bollards prevented the van continuing to follow the teenagers.

It seems that Ely has been plagued by youngsters joy-riding on two-wheelers, which may even have been stolen. Residents would be entitled to some protection by the police, but not high-speed chases through an area of housing. It is clear that feeling in the area is on the side of the families of the victims, rather than the police, with whom relations seem to have been broken for some time. There will be an inquiry by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Through all this, the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Alun Michael, has been less than admirable. As readers will probably know, the Liberal Democrat party has consistently opposed the institution of PCCs. They are "elected by the public to hold Chief Constables and the force to account, making the police answerable to the communities they serve" as the official Association website has it. Instead, Mr Michael has acted merely as a spokesman for the police force, repeating the briefing that he had clearly been given. Clearly, one expects a PCC to stand up for the police within his area if they have been unfairly criticised, but to leap to their defence when there is doubt about their conduct and all the facts are not known is hardly "making the police answerable". The old system of chief constables being called to account by a committee of councillors, who are in constant touch with their electorate, was more effective. In South Wales at least, the post of Commissioner has shown itself to be little more than a sinecure. 

An apology saved up for the right occasion

 

A nice updating (available from Temu) of Brahms:

Johannes Brahms could be insufferably sarcastic and rude - even to his friends. On one occasion, after he had upset several people with a series of offensive remarks, Brahms rose to his feet and, preparing to leave the room, paused briefly at the door. "If there is anyone here whom I have not insulted," he said, turning, "I beg his pardon!" (Sources: P. Latham, Brahms; Leon Botstein, americansymphony.org

The Mounties at 150

 The Canadian Parliament passed an Act on 23rd May 1873 establishing the North-West Mounted Police.