Timed to imperfection

The idea behind this pay rise is fair - take away AMs' perks by scrapping the allowances regime and give them a fair wage as judged by an independent pay review.

It cannot be right that someone's workload increases so much in eight years, but their pay does not reflect it. Meanwhile, they are able to swell their income through a mysterious system of benefits and allowances that no-one outside the Assembly knows about or understands.

This is the argument being advanced by Dafydd El. But I fear that because of the timing it's an argument that won't win much sympathy. There could not be a worse time to do this. And the new allowances regime might not even be in place until the next election.

I'll be intrigued by how and if Plaid AMs return their pay rises.