Speaking after the meeting of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday, David Davies MP (no, not that one) likened the future of the UK to the ill-fated Titanic, saying “It’s just a question of how long it takes to sink.”

I don’t tend nor like to give credence to the statements of politicians who claim £2,000 from taxpayers for a family business, or who thinks the torture of suspected Al Qaeda or Taliban terrorists is “a bonus”. It’s not even a very tasteful metaphor, when the news is still peppered with the ongoing search for missing souls in a maritime accident.

But on the day nominations close for the Plaid Cymru leadership, after Wyn Jones indicated he would stand down after disappointing 2011 election results, it’s pleasant to turn from Scotland to Wales, to see how devolution discussions are panning out there.

Davies’ comments are an interesting insight into the sheer irritation some Tories must have with a nation’s quest for devolution.

The Silk Commission was established in October 2011, to review both the fiscal and general powers of the Welsh Assembly. It will report on fiscal powers this autumn, looking mainly at whether the Senedd should take more responsibility for raising finance rather than from the block grant. It will then make recommendations on the Assembly’s other powers the year after.

In a similar sort of way to the commission on the West Lothian Question, it is the coalition’s preferred way to try to answer the issues developing around devolution, deriving from the original deal between Clegg and Cameron. Three members of the committee – chairman Paul Silk, Noel Lloyd and Dyfrig Jones – appeared before the Select Committee chaired by Davies this week.

And the Titanic jibe was not Davies’ only outburst. While chairing the Committee, Davies basically told Commission Chairman Paul Silk to get on with it:

“Could I suggest we could save £1m by you issuing a report now calling for lots of extra powers for the Welsh Assembly,” he said, because it “Is inevitably going to happen anyway.”

I doubt Davies’ ‘sod it’ attitude will sit well with the supposed unionist mantra of ‘stronger together’. It would be interesting to know how many of his fellow party members share the same view. At least it’s good to know the idea of more powers for Wales is an irritant to some on the government benches. After all, two stinging gadflies of nations pestering and positioning and petitioning for more powers are harder to ignore than one.