Interesting message delivered by Torfaen Labour AM Lynne Neagle to party members in Monmouthshire, especially in light of Peter Hain's comments on the party's poor electoral performance in Wales on May 1 ("To say it's all London's fault as I've heard some say is simply not credible"). The fact is that nobody has publicly - except for self-flagellating Welsh Labour politicians - put the blame on the party at a Welsh level. Plenty of attacks on the party at a Britian-level, much talk of local issues on the doorstep that cost votes, but little if anything said about the operation at Transport House. What does that say about Wales' nascent democracy?
"The very idea that none of what happened in the local elections in Wales has ended up at the door of the Assembly is monumentally worrying - it must make us question just what kind of an impact the institution has made on the Welsh psyche?," says Ms Neagle.
Fair point. Ask yourself this: were Labour in Scotland to suffer the same heavy defeats in local elections, where would the bulk of the opprobrium be directed at? Gordon Brown? Or Wendy Alexander? And has Wales created the world's first national legislature that doesn't even annoy people with its decisions enough to affect their voting choice?