FMQs and the PISA results

The PISA results are finally out. And boy, what a cacophony of wailing and gnashing of teeth there was from the party leaders today at First Minister's Questions.

For once they were all singing from the same hymn sheet, For once, they were united in a sinusoidal wave of emotion, directed at the First Minister.

The Leader of the Conservatives in Wales, Andrew RT Davies called the results 'bleak reading' and it wasn't long before it boiled down to a question of class warfare.

Did you know that of all the Prime Ministers and First Ministers in the UK, only one has been to a comprehensive school? And who would that solitary figure be? Yes, you've guessed it. Our very own First Minister, Carwyn Jones. Gosh!

Plaid Leader Leanne Wood didn't spare the horses when it came to the ghastly detail of how badly Wales had done in the PISA results. She read out a list of statistics that made even the bravest flinch. And it was also an opportunity to use the occasion to point to the spectre of Scotland, who she pointed out had done better than Wales, despite having similar difficulties.

Finally, it was the turn of the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams.

With a magnificent toss of her mane and a bit of business with her glasses, she let the hapless FM have it with both barrels. He began to sink lower and lower on his podium.