Sir,

I note from Mollie Neate's letter of last week that she had a 'wry simile' when listening to the referendum results on March 5.

Well she might have had Wry smile, since presumably she was one of the mere 20 per cent of the Welsh electorate that voted Yes to full law making powers for the assembly and got exactly that.

Yes folks, despite all four main political parties, all 40 AMs, the chief executive of the WRU, several prominent Welsh rugby players, most of the Welsh media and various other celebreties all urging us to vote 'Yes for Wales' just one if five Welsh voters went out and did so.

By far the biggest majority in this referendum was the 65 oer cent of Welsh voters, who, despite all the above, chose on a beautiful sunny day, just two days after S. David's Day, to simply stay at home.

Normally I would be the first to say that if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the result, however given the 'Hobson's Choice' we were offered at this referendum - vote No and the assembly stays exactly as it is, or vote Yes and give them even more power, it is little wonder that a good number of us (almost two-thirds!) chose not to bother turning up.

The only way to resolve this complete apathy to the assembly, confirmed with a similar turnout at the last assembly elections of just 38 per cent, is to ask the Welsh people at the next General Election (when there should be a 60 per cent-plus turnout), whether the majority of us still want an assembly. If the majority answer Yes, and that number represents at least one-in-three of the Welsh electorate, then, and only then, can the WAG claim to have any sort of credible mandate to govern.

I doubt we will ever see this happen, as Westminster now seem more than happy for us to go our own way. Just two days after the result, Cheryl Gillan was on her soapbox saying that Wales should now have its own tax-raising powers, sooner rather than later.

I'll leave it up to the readers to work out why David Cameron's voice in Wales should be so eager for us to progress down this route, but suffice to say one day they'll say - "That's what you all voted for" and it plainly isn't !

Andrew Thomas,

Saundersfoot.