An open goal?

Last week a senior Labour MP claimed Plaid Cymru are running rings around his own party in the Welsh Assembly Government coalition.

Don Touhig's name was even mentioned (approvingly) several times at Plaid Cymru's dinner in Cardiff to celebrate the anniversary of their arrival in power.

Plenty of ammunition then, you might think, for Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader to fire at the Prime Minister at Question Time today.

We raised our pens for the inevitable: "Does the Prime Minister agree with his former parliamentary private secretary that Plaid Cymru run rings around Labour in the Welsh Assembly Government?"

Instead we got this exchange, as recorded by Hansard: Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy) (PC): Does the Prime Minister believe that his party’s wilting membership in Wales and my party’s increasing membership in Wales are due to the coalition between Plaid Cymru and Labour in the National Assembly, or to his leadership here in Westminster?

The Prime Minister: The fact that there are 100,000 more jobs in Wales is due to a Labour Government and Labour Members of the Welsh Assembly; the fact that more children have been taken out of poverty in Wales is due to a Labour Government and Labour Members of the Welsh Assembly; and the fact that there are more public services in Wales is due to the funds provided by a Labour Government from here.

Perhaps that feel-good coalition factor combined with an end-of-term feeling to produce a cooling of the Elfynometer?