Immediately after the Lib Dem wobble, one of Plaid's gang of four was apparently heard to say "Saved by the Lib Dems. Who'd have thought it?". For those in Plaid who opposed the Rainbow, the wobble was a godsend, even if only by buying more time.
But there is also opposition to the idea of a coalition with Labour in some quarters - not least in the blogosphere (Ordovicius, Miserable Old Fart). Could there be an answer which lets both sides of the debate in Plaid off the hook? And could the Lib Dems once again ride to the rescue, like the 7th Cavalry always used to do in the cowboy films?
Vaughan Roderick suggests they just might. Vaughan says that the other three parties all have something to gain from the Labour-Plaid deal; Labour stay in government, Plaid get into government, and Nick Bourne becomes Leader of the Opposition. The Lib Dems, he says, become nothing more than a peripheral party of opposition, spending the next four years in the political wilderness.
But there is another scenario in which Labour avoid doing a deal with Plaid, Plaid are kept out of government, Bourne remains the junior opposition leader, and the Lib Dems move to centre stage once again.
According to Vaughan, all that Mike German has to do is pick up the phone and talk to Rhodri......
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I am sure their council group leaders will reflect on why the 7th cavalry is famous.
An arrogant, error prone leader with a lack of respect for his opponents led them to a famous defeat.
The 7th cavalry also lost rather badly at the Little Big Horn....
We have to remember that Ieuan is keeping the other two rainbow leaders up to date with the red-green talks. At least, that's the impression conveyed prior to Labour's offer to Plaid.
Cymrumark - good point. I suppose I wasn't really looking at it from the point of view of the cavalry at all - who cares about the Lib Dems anyway? But perhaps it's my aging memory; maybe I should have referred to the cavalry in general rather than the 7th specifically. It's a long time since I watched a good cowboy movie.
Ordovicius, I'm sure that Ieuan Wyn Jones is indeed keeping the other two leaders informed. But he must be giving out all sorts of different and inconsistent messages, surely?
To keep Labour talking, he has to be telling Rhodri Morgan something like, "I'm really serious about this, there's a deal here to be made".
To stop Mike German picking up the phone to Rhodri, he must be saying something like, "I'm talking to Labour, but the talks will fail, and I'll be back to the rainbow soon, don't worry".
And to his party, he has to be saying, "I've got a completely open mind, and I'll do what I think is right for Wales".
But if they ever compare notes.....
Post a Comment