When a butterfly flaps its wings in London....

The Welsh Secretary launched a broadside at the Welsh Government and National Assembly earlier this week, and is quoted as saying (via The Guardian) :

Jones criticised the Labour-led Welsh government for seeking further powers. The secretary of state said: "It's like a butterfly collector: here's a new one, I'll just pin it up on the board. We need powers for a purpose. Frankly, a lot of the powers they have at the moment are not being used."

Jones added: "The model we have in Wales is the correct one. It should be a dynamic form of devolution that sees powers flowing backwards and forwards as and when required in a way that best meets changing circumstances."

Well, if we're going to use the butterfly collector analogy, the reality is something like this :

Wales has the board and pins. Butterflies, I'm presuming, represent the Assembly's powers.
The Welsh Government and Assembly are indeed butterfly collectors.

Except, instead of collecting butterflies, they're told they can only collect butterfly parts, with the likes of David Jones Cheryl Gillan, Peter Hain handing over to the Assembly a wing, body or head.

So the Welsh butterfly collection resembles something found in a serial killer's basement – bits of ripped up insect hoisted on pins - not anything equivalent to a working devolution settlement. You have to question the mindset of those who devised such an arrangement.

You know the beginning of Gladiator? Where a German holds up a decapitated head?

"Rydych chi'n bob cŵn felltithio!"

What David Jones is telling us is that, "People should know when they're conquered."

But his criticism didn't end there :

Jones also criticised the lack of excitement and apparent engagement in debates at the Welsh assembly. He said too many members appeared to be "fiddling with computer screens rather than engaging with the debate" and claimed: "That tends to lend an air of detachment to the proceedings."

Jones said: "The House of Commons is a lot more rough-and-tumble than the Assembly. Frankly the House of Lords is a lot more rough-and-tumble than the Assembly."

Considering all that's happened this week, his comments appear to be rather mistimed. Although, in fairness, he's only aping what's been said by journalists recently, why is there this obsession with bringing "rough and tumble"/"yah boo" debate to the Senedd?

It would make good TV and soundbites, but the quality of debate wouldn't improve. It's sounds an awful lot like advocating that AMs shout over each other about very little.

If the Senedd becomes a competition to see who'll be the first to bring the public gallery crashing down with their booming Churchillian oratory, it'll be a backward step. I don't think it'll do its image any good to have worried onlookers surround a smashed greenhouse, as those inside blast Mills & Boon terms through loudhailers in order to get hearts fluttering about fly-grazing, or a ban on cheese.

The closest most people get to seeing Assembly debates, I'd imagine, are edited versions for news and current affairs programmes anyway (if they bother to watch them).

The online services for keeping up to date with what's happening – like the Assembly's website and the Assembly's Research Service – are excellent too, but you can only lead a horse to water.

It's presumptious for anyone to pressure AMs to do their jobs a certain way, lest it ends up like this, or like this.

However, there's no need for AMs get riled up by anything David Jones said. It appears Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM (Plaid, Carms E & Dinefwr) and Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM (Plaid, Dwyfor Meirionnydd) took the bait on behalf of the Assembly.

Those in the inner sanctum of Welsh politics need to be careful they don't give the impression of being unable to accept any criticism of their role. Nor should they actively go out of their way to avoid criticism. They've probably had it easy on that front, surrounded by friendly faces in Cardiff and elsewhere who value their time, input and attention and treat them as VIPs.

They shouldn't act surprised that some will never be happy with what they do, what they say or how they act - even if they produce the best evidence imaginable to support themselves. There are plenty out there who would be more than happy to see the whole lot get P45s - I know quite a few.

It's also a gift for those sniffing for stories, trying to meet insatiable public demand to "take politicians down a few pegs", and the sockpuppets on Wales Online and elsewhere.

It's fair to say that sometimes we – as in the public - get angry over the wrong things. That's because the Welsh Government and Assembly have gotten away with so many big things down the years, that as soon as there's a bit of bad news or criticism - regardless of how small - it's now used as an opportunity to attack the institution as a whole.

Instead of saying precisely why they need more powers, for example, AMs and ministers end up going on the defensive about the criticism itself, launching rather weak party political or small-n nationalist arguments, without countering that criticism head-on.

It even manifests itself in anti-Welsh language fluff. Fortunately, that's because those who espouse a nihilistic, anti-politics, anti-devolution agenda can be ignored quite easily as - to date - they've never articulated their arguments very well.

They might be able to one day, though. If AMs keep carrying on as if everything's fine, their mandate is beyond reproach and everyone's on board, they'll be sitting ducks.

And I say that as perhaps one of the observers with more affinity for them.