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Friday, June 5, 1998 Published at 14:31 GMT 15:31 UK
UK Politics: Talking Politics
The Welsh Week at Westminster
By David Cornock, BBC Wales parliamentary correspondent.
Members of the House of Lords have been doing battle over the title of the future leader of the National Assembly.
The Tories want him or her to be known as the Premier, or Y Pen Weinidog; the Liberal Democrats want a Welsh equivalent of the Irish Taoiseach.
Home Office Minister Lord Williams of Mostyn jokingly suggested Lord Protector - and swiftly swallowed the idea before Welsh Secretary Ron Davies had time to adopt it.
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has been defending the government's decision to spend £50,000 on a table for the European summit in Cardiff.
It's not just a table, says Mr Cook - it's wired for interpreters and can seat no fewer than 49 European leaders.
He can't understand why people criticise the rugby-ball shape with a centre hole - most oval tables have a hole in them - and filling it in would cost more.
Is it referendums or referenda? Madam Speaker's been asked to rule on the question that's vexed us for almost 20 years.
Tory Alan Clark, author and former minister, spoke up for referenda in the hope it would be a boost for classical revivalism.
Alas, Speaker Betty Boothroyd plumped for the more English referendums, as found in the Bill that led to last year's votes in Wales and Scotland.
Former Bar Council chairman Lord Williams of Mostyn has found that devolution can be a painful business.
As the minister taking the Government of Wales Bill through the Lords, he is occasionally required on to offer peers legal advice.
It wasn't, as the Tories suggested, annoying to give free legal advice, he said. It was deeply distressing - particularly for somebody from North Wales.
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