No games, no pain?

The timing of the announcement that Wales will not bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games is interesting.

The impact of Brexit is hugely sensitive at the moment, and to blame the games decision on leaving the EU makes it an issue just at the point when the messages are critical.

The danger for ministers is how the failure to bid for the games contrasts with virtually every other statement saying that Wales is open for business.

Critics will argue that the role of a government at times like these is to provide confidence.

But there will be many who say this is sensible at a time of huge uncertainty.

When I spoke to one Welsh Government official, it was telling that the first thing he said was that the projected price tag of up to £1.5bn was equivalent to the cost of an M4 relief road.

So why make the announcement now when the deadline for bids was 2018?

There is one school of thought to say that it was better to do it before rather than in the middle of post-Olympics jubilation.

An official also referred to the fact that Economy Minister Ken Skates made the announcement while at the Llanwern steelworks in Newport.

It stressed the point that it would not have been justifiable to spend so much on a sports event at a time when the steel industry is facing a crisis.