Early trouble at Mill: What happened to 'love is power'?

We’ve all seen or read stories about young love, where coalitions in their early years [months] experience romance so powerful that it blinds them to the rest of the world. The sometimes reckless abandon of young love is well known, as is evident in the many warnings from more experienced elders to young lovers who are just discovering the world of coalition romance.

The BBC has reported today on a little 'tiff' that is brewing between coalition partners, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru's coalition partnership with Labour has suffered a Valentine's Day "lovers' tiff" over a new website. Plaid launched the site to help trades unionists opt out of subscriptions to Labour, saying some did not know they were "bank-rolling" the party.

Meanwhile, Graham Smith, secretary of the Labour affiliated unions association, Tulo, rubbished the website:

Nobody should forget Labour's roots within the trade union movement...This is Plaid showing their true colours.

But Plaid Cymru AM, Leanne Wood (famous for boycotting the Queen; calling Her Majesty 'Mrs Windsor'; and not accepting a Facebook friendship request from Miss Wagstaff), has insisted that the website is helping union members tackle a real issue:

Plaid has a long history of supporting trade unionism and workers' struggles in Wales. In the last decade, many of those struggles have been against the Labour Government. Trade unions bankroll the Labour Party; over the last six years unions have contributed £60m and many members are not aware that their money is going to the Labour Party. Plaid is launching a website today which will simplify what can be a difficult process.

The website named "Stop subsidising Labour" lets users click a link to a dozen of the UK's most prominent trade unions, bringing up a form to opt-out of political contributions.

A Labour spokesman said:

This is a particularly weak stunt from a tired party machine. Trade union members around Wales will be asking themselves where Plaid Cymru MPs were when the minimum wage was voted on in Parliament. The answer is, in bed.

Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne added:

If this is sort of Valentine's Day present Plaid Cymru is giving to Labour, the coalition partners are clearly in need of some serious relationship counselling. I'd hate to see what they send if they ever do fall out of love with each other. Somehow I doubt we'll have long to wait.

Looks like the two camps are unsettled before we even arrive at the local government election in May 2008.