A slap in the face for England?
There may be a political in Wales that we are hard done by when it comes to public spending but today's suggests it has yet to cross Offa's Dyke.
The Mail has caught on to the news that English students will pay more to study at Welsh universities - more than Welsh students, more than French students, more than the Irish on identical courses in Wales.
It uses the news to point out that public spending in Wales in 2007/8 was more than £1,042 per head - or 14 per cent - higher than in England "as a result of the controversial Barnett formula".
That would be the Barnett formula that all Welsh parties believe is unfair to Wales, even if they make that point more loudly in opposition than when they are in a position to do something about it in government.
The Barnett formula is population-based, and doesn't reflect need, but the Daily Mail take on it reflects a widespread perception in England that the formula is unfair - to the English. In politics, perception can be (almost) everything so that may yet have an impact on the prospects for changing it.
It does mark a change to see "slap in the face for/snub to England" headlines. The former Labour MP Kim Howells says in an excellent Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Wales documentary (still available here for a few days): "Ever since I can remember in politics the thing that I have disliked most is the whinging that we as Welsh people wallow in; we love it, we love whinging about big brother who lives across the other side of the severn or the wye the english as if they are responsible for everything that goes wrong in Wales.
"It's complete nonsense of course - in so many ways we are the victims of our own, this terrible identity crisis or whatever the hell you want to call it."
Dr Howells was one of the few retiring MPs to, how shall I put it, advertise his availability for the House of Lords after stepping down from the Commons last May.
The peerage has yet to arrive, he believes as a result of his u-turn on Afghanistan - the former Foreign Office Minister now supports withdrawal of British troops.
He tells the programme: "I suspect I'm probably a casualty of crossing Gordon [Brown] on Afghanistan but it's never bothered me."
Such insouciance should allay those cheeky enough to interpret his observation as a whinge about the Scot!
Hello. I'm David Cornock and I'm parliamentary correspondent for Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Wales. This is the blog for the latest news and gossip from the Westminster village - with a Welsh accent.
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