Stronger Labour-Plaid links strengthens Tories

Nick Davies and Darren Williams, the authors of "Clear Red Water: Welsh Devolution and Socialist Policies" advocate stronger links with Plaid Cymru as their "preferred coalition partner".

This is unlikely to work in practice. We have already seen rifts occur among the Labour-Plaid government and the Labour and Plaid backbenchers - issues ranging from badger culling to student top-up fees. There will no doubt be further tensions before this Assembly term is out.

But of course the major sticking point for such a firm coalition is the competing aims of Labour and Plaid as far as devolution is concerned - Rhodri Morgan recently said as much when he said that Labour was a proud supporter of devolution whilst Plaid is a secessionist party.

This unholy alliance would not serve to "isolate the Tories for the foreseeable future" as Davies and Williams suggest. The people who supported Plaid Cymru as an alternative to Labour at the last Assembly Election are probably entirely peeved that they decided to prop up Labour rather than opt for change and a Plaid-led Welsh Assembly Government.

Closer ties between these two parties would mean that the Welsh Conservatives would be the only meaningful alternative for voters disillusioned with the Labour-Plaid administration, thereby strengthening the Welsh Conservatives' hand.

Besides, after the General Election and a Conservative landslide, perhaps the Welsh Conservatives will be one of the key players in coalition talks. With a Conservative administration in London, a progressive agenda may be more achievable if there were a Conservative-led administration in Cardiff Bay too - we will have to watch this space.