If you can't join 'em, beat 'em

One of our happy band tried to leave a response to this thoughtful post by Darran Hill at WalesHome but couldn't find the submit button - hence this post of our own.

Darran's question: Can't you two even try to get along, explores the reasons why Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats are unable to bond even though both have such mutual areas of interest and no real geographical conflicts. "There are strong points of synergy between them and some remarkable similarities", says Mr Hill, who highlights green issues, proportional representation and a commitment to a local income tax as a basis for joint foundations.

Yet despite the excellent analysis, we are not sure if his 'two parties divided by a common purpose' theme translates into a workable arrangement for Wales as well as it appears to have done at Cardiff which he cites as an example. Admittedly, both parties demonstrate a pragmatic approach to coalition and/or partnership working at local government level throughout Wales and with a diverse range of partners. However much of the internecine stuff we read today still bears the accusatory undertones of how intransigence by key individuals wrecked the possibility of a rainbow coalition. There is little chance of movement while that argument still festers.