I'll have what he's having
I don't know what Alun Michael has for breakfast but in the (redrafted) words of "When Harry met Sally", I'll have what he's having.
On Radio Wales this morning his verdict on was a resounding: "Devolution is working. Hurrah!"
The Welsh Assembly Government have responded rather differently to the story.
"We don't recognise this version of events. Constructive work and discussions are ongoing with regard to the suspension of the right to buy LCO."
Under the circumstances it's no surprise that the Affordable Housing LCO seems to have been renamed for the element that's led to such strong words already. I'm thinking about "anti-devolution sentiment" and "potential constitutional crisis."
What there is - quite clearly - is a realisation that the Welsh Assembly Government is in a hole over this bid for power and that the best they can do now is find a way out of it. That is not, as one tired and frustrated voice put it, how it is supposed to be.
Would Plaid regard a decision to rework this LCO as a reason to walk away from government? Only Liberal Democrat leadership contender, Jenny Randerson, seems to think so. How would they explain to Mr Jones in Rhyl, who's just lost his job and who's in fear of what the credit crunch will do to his chances of getting another one, that they're walking out of government over the granting of powers they've no plans to exercise?
Yes, it sounds a bit academic. Dry. Irrelevant. Maybe but the way out of this corner will be scrutinised as closely as the bid for power itself. Not by Mr Jones in Rhyl perhaps but the way it's solved could make a mark on the body that represents Mr Jones and that is anything but academic.
By the way Meg Ryan was, of course, faking it in "When Harry met Sally". I'm quite sure Alun Michael's delight was anything but.
I'm Betsan Powys, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
Comments
or to comment.