No Metaphors To Declare

It takes a peculiarly British sense of humour to make April Fools Day the day on which most major changes to government services come into effect. This year's main event is of course the "National" Travel Pass for elderly and disabled passengers in England, something that has kicked up something of a storm on this side of...

Well, what exactly? Offa's Dyke is the traditional metaphor, but recently our politicians have been trialling something a little more Churchillian. Not that they don't have a point, mind you; between restricted commissioning of specialist health services and failure of joined-up thinking along the border, the raising of the drawbridge has loomed large in the policy of successive governments.

But what to call this thin red line from Shotton, on the Dee, to Chepstow, on the Wye? Darren Millar took the first shot from the Conservative benches, calling it a "slate curtain" in the Assembly. Today Kirsty Williams returns fire for us with a "daffodil curtain" for bus users.

I'm sure there are more variants to be found, but I must admit to rather liking the daffodil idea; after all, West Gloucestershire is famed for its daffodil production and, as a man of Gloucester, I know that ancient law says that any man approaching the city from the west on a market day is presumed to be Welsh and may be shot with impunity...