THE OUTCOME of the Welsh devolution referendum after a cliffhanger count that now gives Wales a national assembly by the narrowest consent seems likely to put plans for regional rule in England on a slow-burner.

For, quite distinct from Scotland, which last week voted by three to one for its own parliament, the Welsh, it appears, have suggested that elsewhere in Britain, the desire for people to have greater control over their own affairs is not so great as the assumption that has driven Labour to promise more People Power.

Indeed, if the apathy shown in Wales yesterday, when barely 50 per cent of the electorate voted and antipathy for even a measure of self-government was such that only one in four backed devolution, is a yardstick, then plans for more regional government are likely to slide well down Tony Blair's agenda.

Certainly, it is impossible to for him proclaim yesterday's "Yes" vote in Wales, delivered by the wafer-thin margin of just 0.6 per cent, as a real victory, for it is only a handful of votes away from an embarrassing rebuff. He is unlikely, then, to rush at the risk of receiving one in England. At this early stage, it is difficult to analyse why the Welsh, despite having somewhat less-strong national sentiments than the Scots, voted as they did or not at all.

But it seems that many found the choice between greater self-rule and self-promotion for Wales and the possible loosening of the United Kingdom's cohesion a difficult one.

Yet, now that Scotland and Wales are to have their own parliaments, events will prove whether the fear for the future of the Union, promulgated mainly by the Tories, is credible.

However, if people in other parts of Britain observe in the future that the people of Scotland and Wales are materially benefiting from great self-rule, then the desire for such powers may come more strongly alive in the English regions.

Yet the barely-conclusive vote in Wales seems set to throw cold water on further devolution plans.

And that is a pity for People Power since it has suffered with too much power vested in Westminster.

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