Blair confident of a yes in Wales

Tony Blair made his third visit to Wales during the referendum campaign, saying he was confident the Principality will vote Yes tomorrow. The Prime Minister was in Wrexham and Deeside, seeking to bolster the Yes vote in a part of the Principality usua

If the voters show a fraction of the enthusiasm which greeted the Blairs in North Wales yesterday, then the year 2000 will see an elected body take office in Cardiff.

Mr Blair greeted with applause and cheers as he passed through crowds in Wrexham's shopping centre. Scores of "Vote Yes" posters were held aloft. "We love you Tony," was the message painted on a piece of cardboard by nine-year-old Dee Williams.

Her mother, Veronica, said proudly: "Everyone round here is for an assembly - and Mr Blair of course."

The Prime Minister started his walkabout in Hope Street - and hopes are on the rise as a result of his visit.

Steve Reeves, an electrician, has just turned 18 and is eligible to vote for the first time. "It's going to be a vote for an assembly and a vote for Wales. We are big enough to take responsibility for things that affect us here," he declared.

Gareth Thomas, one of a clutch of MPs on parade, ousted the junior Welsh Office minister Rod Richards in Clwyd West on 1 May. A hardened campaigner, Mr Thomas commented: "It's a very tough fight in North Wales, where there's a tendency to look to England just 10 miles down the road."

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Thomas of Gresford was born and raised in Wrexham. As the prime ministerial convoy gathered he said: "I can't imagine any other prime minister receiving the sort of reception Mr Blair is getting." The Welsh Secretary, Ron Davies, who buzzes round Wales with undiminished energy, looked pleased.

"As the campaign intensifies it is clear that the case for a `Yes' vote is getting through but there's still a lot to do and there can be no complacency."

Earlier the party toured the Toyota engine factory on Deeside and took a tea-break with shop-floor staff.

The factory celebrated its fifth birthday this month and is something of a model of the new Wales, where hi-tech industries and sleek production lines are on a roll.

In the five years it has produced 360,000 engines to power cars made at Burnaston, in Derbyshire, and in Turkey. Such developments are seen as a promise of the glowing future for a devolved Wales.

Mr Blair's visit came as polls showed the Welsh likely to vote "Yes" - but with a significant number still to decide which way to jump.

A poll for HTV puts support for an assembly at 37 per cent, with 29 per cent against and 34 per cent undecided.

That is something of a turnaround from the 1979 St David's Day referendum, when devolution was rejected by 4-1. Even so, the cliche "Everything to play for" hangs tantalisingly in the Welsh air.