April 26th: The silence of David Cameron

THE BBC's Andrew Marr programme this morning taught us several things. The first was that Leanne Wood, the Plaid Cymru leader, wants an additional £1.2 billion for Wales, and would demand that as the price of supporting a Labour government. The second was that Ed Miliband is becoming increasingly keen to distance himself from the Scottish National Party. Repeatedly pushed on the subject by Mr Marr, the Labour leader said he would reject any "deal" with the party. Admittedly, the word is vague, and the commitment in no way precludes the SNP from propping up a Labour government in votes of confidence. But it would appear to rule out a formal, stabilising supply-and-confidence agreement between the two parties. That suggests either that Mr Miliband is spooked by recent Conservative warnings about the danger of any Labour-SNP deal, or that he recognises that the SNP would have relatively little room for manoeuvre (probably a mix of both).

The third and most striking segment came in the final minutes of the programme, in which Mr Miliband and Boris Johnson, the London mayor and Conservative parliamentary candidate, sparred. Mr Johnson's individual interview with Mr Marr had been rather unenlightening (the classically minded mayor compared the Labour leader's housing plans to those of Emperor Diocletian). But the bout between the two was a refreshingly sparky and lively interlude in a campaign that has so far been remarkably staid.