Could Wales ban political lying without the police?

We are about to find out what sort of punishment Welsh MSs and Senedd election candidates might face if they knowingly deceive.

The Senedd's standards of conduct committee has spent the past seven months trying to come up with plans for a new law to ban politicians who do that.

Initially they had hoped to publish their plans this week - but it is complicated, and we're told the plans will now be coming "soon".

Do not expect the sound of sirens and the flash of blue lights: as things stand it does not look as if the committee will recommend that it should be a criminal offence involving the police.

In the words of one legal expert, Wales is on a "path breaking" course to try and restore faith in politics and even democracy itself.

Committee members have been considering three options:

1. To create a criminal offence of deception which would end up in the criminal courts
2. To use an existing investigative body - the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has been mentioned, and gave evidence to the committee - and to bring in a civil sanction such as a fine
3. Strengthen the MS code of conduct, and beef up the available sanctions. In other words it would be dealt with through the Senedd's disciplinary procedures.

They have been wading through a lot of evidence, with an eye on the time.

The Welsh government has promised to bring in a new law for the next Senedd election in May 2026 and will be part of the same plans published last week on recall of politicians who misbehave.

The committee will have some warnings ringing in their ears.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) says in its evidence that any extension to criminal law could be "fraught with peril" and that "great care should be executed" before creating a new criminal offence.

The CBA also questions whether legislation already exists to tackle the problem, such as Misconduct in Public Office for MSs and the Representation of the People Act for candidates.

The Law Society questions whether there might be a risk of deterring open debate in politics.

They also highlight the problem of how you prove that someone has knowingly tried to deceive.

They stress that if the Senedd does opt for a criminal offence then the criminal standard of proof - sure beyond reasonable doubt - would be paramount because of the potential "severe reputational and professional consequences" of an allegation of deliberate deception.

There is also pressure to make a stand: the Director of Hillsborough Law Now - a body pushing for a duty of candour for public officials - favours a new criminal offence.

Barrister and former Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd told the committee that option one is "most likely to garner public support" and removes the perception that the Senedd would be "marking its own homework".

He also points out that option three - a beefed-up internal system - has limitations when applied to candidates rather than those who have already been elected.

The party's former leader Adam Price was behind those plans and did not play down the significance of what was at stake, saying: "We are at the beginning of a global movement. We are going to outlaw political lying."

Price was supported by Labour MS Lee Waters, and both are observer members of the committee.

So what now?

Will the committee be unanimous, or will their findings be more nuanced?

It is clearly a challenging task.

Would you like politicians to tell the truth, or would you like them to be punished if they don't?

Its a simple question, with probably a simple answer. How to do it is a lot more complicated.