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The Eskimos are reputed to have several words for "snow". In Welsh poltics, we have almost as many for "committee".

Task and finish group, convention, task force, action group - take your pick, although commission appears to be the buzzword of the moment.

The Richard commission looked at the Welsh assembly's powers, the Holtham commission its funding. A Calman-style commission will look at the way it is financed. A West Lothian commission will review the impact of devolution on parliament.

These commissions should not be confused with the Wales Office's , which Secretary of State Cheryl Gillan has recently upgraded to the status of, you've guessed it, "commission".

It is also to produce a report, which may surprise those who thought this ministerialof thanks published nearly six months ago marked its climax.

Last October, as now, the price of fuel was a major issue. It was even suggested that vehicle excise duty for 4 x 4 vehicles be cut according to postcode. (We're talking rural Wales here, not Kensington & Chelsea).

The project led the Wales Office Minister David Jones to write to the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, to suggest that motorists in rural areas of Wales receive a 5p a litre discount in the price of fuel duty.

This morning, Mr Alexander turned up at the Welsh Grand Committee to give his response. He has written to the European Commission (another one) to ask for permission to set up a pilot scheme for "remote island communities."

These happen to be remote island communities in England and Scotland. Petrol and diesel may cost more in rural Wales, but the UK government says that it can cost between 10p and 25p a litre extra to get fuel to remote island communities.

Mr Alexander said that to obtain a derogation on duty permission would be needed not only from the commission but also from 27 EU member states.

That required "the most robust evidence possible" on the impact of fuel prices and it doesn't appear that evidence includes the work of the rural economy project, sorry commission.

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It lasted 90 minutes and saw Wales pitched against England with passions running high on both sides, but no-one booed (or sang) the national anthem.

Westminster Hall, the second chamber of the House of Commons, is a more sedate venue than the Millennium Stadium but the arguments raged as fiercely as they did on Saturday.

Some would say more fiercely; at least this survived as a contest beyond the first 15 minutes.

The debate, on the , was led by a former Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy.

He's worried that UK government plans to look at the role of non-English MPs at Westminster could lead to a ban on Welsh MPs voting on laws that affect England alone - "English votes for English laws" as the Conservatives put it while in opposition.

Mr Murphy believes any changes could threaten the Union between Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But the debate saw warnings from several Conservative MPs about the impact of devolution on England and allegations that the English are subsidising public services north of Hadrian's wall and west of Offa's dyke.

The Torfaen Labour MP said: "I believe the Union is best maintained by recognising the diversity of our countries and regions within the United Kingdom in the way we're doing it."

He said the "disproportionate" loss of MPs from Wales at the next general election would affect the efficacy and significance of the Union. It would also be difficult to separate English issues from those of the rest of the UK at Westminster as funding is so closely related.

But London Tory MP Mark Field told him: "There is one leg, and rather an important leg, of the United Kingdom, that feels under-represented and unloved, which is one of the reasons this West Lothian question is becoming more high profile in England."

Monmouth Tory MP David Davies said: "We cannot possibly have a situation where we as Welsh MPs are telling the English what to do with their Health Service and education and they can't have any say over what goes on in Wales."

Mr Davies said the answer was to give the English their own parliament with similar powers to the parliaments in Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Totnes Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said there was a great feeling of unfairness within English constituencies. "We feel under-represented but equally we feel over-taxed and we wonder how it is we can be subsidising university education for Scottish pupils and how we can be subsidising free prescription charges."

The Constitutional Affairs Minister, Mark Harper, who is Tory MP for the Forest of Dean, said: "The English-Welsh border has become more of a border, more of a real barrier, since devolution, than it was beforehand. That is certainly the experience of my constituents."

He warned of the danger of ignoring some of the views of English voters. Mr Harper said there were a number of commentators who that if ever the United Kingdom is threatened it's the resentment of English voters that would damage it. "It's important we deal with these issues so that we can keep our United Kingdom together."

He added: "If you had a United Kingdom government that which didn't have a majority in England and insisted on governing as if it did given that we have a devolution settlement in Wales and Scotland that may lead to the sort of resentment."

Details of a commission - yes, another one - on the issue are due to be revealed later this year.

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Harry Potter started it. The actor who played the adolescent wizard in the movies came out as a Liberal Democrat supporter two years ago.

It appears to have left the Lib Dems rather star-struck. Baroness Randerson of Roath Park reveals a taste for the work of J.K. Rowling in this month's Total Politics magazine.

Asked, in the magazine's "Brought to Book" section which fictional character she would be, she replies: "I'd be Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, as she's good at exerting pressure behind the scenes and finding her way around ancient labyrinthine buildings - such as the House of Lords".

Elsewhere in the interview, the retiring member of the Welsh assembly, is strikingly on message. Favourite political biography? "Paddy Ashdown - A Fortunate Life". Least favourite book? "Cherie Blair - Speaking for Myself".

Her own political career appears to have given Baroness Randerson literary ambitions. What would you like to write a book about?

"I'd write about the development of Welsh devolution. It would be the inside story and, I hope, would explain the complexities and frustrations of an imperfect system".

That doesn't sound like the sort of synopsis to have literary agents beating a path to her door although J. K. Rowling may yet have a rival in the best-seller stakes.

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It's quite easy, said the First Minister, for a government to turn itself into a "strategy factory".

"You know," told last month's Welsh Labour conference, "creating an endless stream of strategies without there being any product at the end of it.

"I want this to change and change radically".

It turns out it's not as easy as he thought. A promised manufacturing strategy will not now be published ahead of the Welsh elections in May.

Not that the Welsh assembly government is short of a strategy or two. It even appears to have a strategy for strategies. There is a dedicated strategieson its website.

There is a violence against women strategy, a strategy for woodlands, another for fuel poverty. Then there's the major events strategy.

"The gypsy traveller team within the Welsh assembly government have developed a draft gypsy traveller strategy".

There is a Welsh medium education strategy, a climate change strategy and "Better Homes for Wales - our strategy for Welsh housing."

There is the .

There are strategies for the built environment and for youth services. There's an environment strategy and a strategy for developing school-based counselling services for children and young people.

We are three years into the 10-year substance abuse strategy; there's a biomass strategy for Wales, a strategy for old people, a community nursing strategy and a
location strategy.

The "strategy factory" has clearly been working overtime: do let me know if I've missed any out.

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Life was so much easier when Budgets were predictable. A middle-aged Scot would claim to have pulled off the trick of combining higher public spending with lower taxes, Labour MPs would cheer as their opponents jeered.

The inbox would swiftly fill. "Smoke and mirrors" said the Tory press releases; "nothing in it for Wales," said Plaid Cymru. And "nothing in it for rural Wales" said the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

These days a slightly younger Englishman gets up, combines tax cuts for some with tax rises for many, and confirms some public spending cuts while protecting other programmes.

Policy schemes in England, on apprenticeships, housing and potholes give the Welsh assembly government an extra £65m to spend during the next five years on its own priorities (and a chance for jargon-hungry politicians to say "Barnett consequentials").

Raising personal tax allowances is a £48 tax cut for those on up to £115,000 a year, and takes 10,000 people in Wales out of income tax (even if it does more for some on six-figure salaries than the very poorest who don't pay tax).

Changing the default way in which thresholds are increased (CPI not RPI if you want the jargon) allows the Chancellor to claw back some cash.

The reaction is swift but no longer predictable. Conservatives in the Welsh assembly, who have yet to outline overall reductions in the assembly government budget, hail "welcome relief to families, pensioners and small businesses across Wales, who have had to tighten their belts to meet rising fuel prices."

And the Liberal Democrats say: "The cut in fuel duty is extremely welcome for those in rural Wales who have seen prices rocket in recent months."

Yes, fuel duty is falling by a penny a litre as of 6pm, although this is less than the increase caused by the UK government's decision to raise VAT. The Chancellor is also scrapping next month's scheduled above-inflation increase in fuel duty.

The Chancellor gives with one hand, and takes with the other. The spin has highlighted the £48 tax cut (through raised allowances) that will also benefit those on more than £42,000 who pay 40 per cent tax and won't drag others into the 40 per cent net.

They shouldn't spend next year's £48 cut all at once if they have children - as they'll be losing their far more valuable child benefit (£1,000 a year for first child tax-free) from 2013.

Plaid Cymru delivered a mixed response, welcoming the proposed fuel duty stabiliser, but adding: "This was a Budget of small beer compared to the cuts announced last year and the destructive effects that those will have on our communities."

For Labour, shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain targetted his successor: "This was Cheryl Gillan's big test and she flunked it. Wales is still being hit disproportionately hard by the Tory-led Government.

We recognise the need for cuts.... there would have been cuts under Labour. What we are saying is that, by going too far and too fast, the government is doing something no other government around the world is doing."

Arguments that may yet become well-rehearsed between now, the assembly elections on May 5 and George Osborne's next Budget.

UPDATE: Plaid Cymru is now claiming the credit for the redoubling of the Stroud to Kemble railway line. The party doesn't normally involve itself in English issues but did lobby for this work, which helps deliver faster journey times to and from south Wales. Perhaps the party's election slogan should now be "Plaid Lloegr: for a better England".

UPDATE 2: Plaid Cymru's Treasury spokesman tells the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ of the Budget "has absolutely nothing in it for Wales". Old habits die hard.

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Good Morning Wales presenter Felicity Evans grills Conservative MP Guto Bebb as part of our live Budget day coverage from Westminster.

Part of the challenge for us, as ever, is to find out which bits of the Budget apply to Wales. The signs are that extra help for first-time homebuyers, the young unemployed and mending potholes will be confined to England although the Welsh assembly government will get a share of any extra cash.

As that money won't come on stream until the next financial year it should give the Welsh political parties a few million more to "spend" in their manifestos for the assembly elections in May.

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Welsh Liberal Democrats tend to seek a low profile these days, although this one's cover may have been blown.

Roger Williams, deputy leader of the Welsh Lib Dems (he's the one on the right) got on his bike to support WWF's "earth hour" initiative.

Given that the Brecon and Radnorshire MP a half share in five homes (four of which are let out) it could take him the entire hour to switch off all the lights.

Mr Williams's efforts in the saddle will have helped power up batteries to be used to project natural world images onto the Royal Albert Hall during the "earth hour".

It marks an unusual departure in media strategy for the Welsh Lib Dems at Westminster. This month marks the anniversary of the party's last news conference here, although they continue to hold weekly media briefings in the Welsh assembly.

Why so shy? Perish the thought that the three Lib Dem MPs from Wales, who rebelled on the vote on university tuition fees in England, want to distance themselves from the policies of the coalition government with the Tories.

A (Cardiff-based) spokesman explains: "Since being part of government, we've been busy focusing on delivering Liberal Democrat policies in government like increasing the tax threshold that will take 50,000 people in Wales out of paying income tax, restoring the link between the basic state pension and earnings, scrapping ID cards, consulting with the National Assembly over giving them the power to decide whether or not to move the Early May Bank holiday to coincide with St David's Day on 1st March and electrifying the Great Western mainline, to name a few."

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If you feel a void in your life during the next seven weeks, but cannot put your finger on it, then it could be the absence of Welsh Question Time in the Commons.

Today was the last occasion on which this monthly Westminster treat was served before Wales goes to the polls on May 5.

It was, by and large, the routine jargon-fest, with MPs competing to discuss various commissions in a way that will be impenetrable to most normal people. At least Cheryl Gillan restricted herself to the one "trilateral".

Two things stood out from the routine. The Wales Office Minister David Jones announced that he had written to the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, to ask him to include Wales in a scheme that could cut the price of petrol by 5p a litre.

Mr Alexander announced earlier this month that the UK Government is applying to the European Commission for the power to introduce a rebate of that amount in some parts of the UK.

The ones the Treasury has in mind are Highland communities, the Northern Isles, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Islands of the Clyde and the Isles of Scilly. It doesn't look as if any part of Wales is included, but the Wales Office will doubtless correct me if I'm wrong.

The second notable moment came when Monmouth Tory MP David Davies pitched in to the debate over the so-called West Lothian question - why can Scottish and Welsh MPs vote on health and education in England when they have no say over those issues in their own constituencies?

As Mr Davies put it: "Clearly the vast majority of people in Wales wish to remain a part of the union, and as a proud Welshman and a proud unionist I believe something must be done about the West Lothian question to stop Welsh MPs voting on matters for which they have no responsibility."

Of course, there is nothing (apart from government whips) to stop Mr Davies from abstaining on these issues, but Cheryl Gillan told MPs her government would set up a commission (yes, another one) on the West Lothian question.

The Tories seem to have backtracked slightly on their previous "English votes for English laws" policy but it will be interesting to see if the commission suggests stopping Welsh MPs voting on England-only issues - and whether it extends the principle to English-based MPs occupying the Wales Office.

But David Davies has a dual role. He also chairs the select committee on Welsh affairs. This committee'sis "to examine matters within the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Wales (including relations with the National Assembly for Wales)".

The committee is currently looking at S4C (responsibility of department for culture, media, olympics and sport), and inward investment (department for business or Welsh assembly government). It has already reported on Severn Bridge tolls (department for transport) and has looked at the Newport passport office (home office).

If David Davies's suggestion that "something must be done.....to stop Welsh MPs voting on matters for which they have no responsibility" is taken up the select committee might find itself with rather less to do.

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"Do you play golf, Sian?" asked the billionaire tycoon. The MP for Swansea East admitted that she didn't, but she appeared pleased to be asked.

Few witnesses have succeeded in charming select committees as effectively as Sir Terry Matthews. The owner of Celtic Manor Resort and founder of 90 companies appeared before the Welsh affairs committee at Westminster today.

Sir Terry and Simon Gibson, chief executive of one of those companies, Wesley Clover, toured the horseshoe-shaped table to shake the hand of each of his inquisitors before the start of the 80-minute session.

Sir Terry began with an anecdote about Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mumbles and that set the tone for the day's exchanges.

The Ryder Cup was a consistent feature of the exchanges, with Sir Terry revealing that the Celtic Manor did £1m worth of future hotel business on the day the golf was rained off.

The purpose of his question to Sian James had been to explain the link between golf and business. Another question - about the MPs' experience of venture capital - met with little response.

He was polite about graduates, in a Gordon Gecko-esque way: "We have to find ways of keeping them. They have to be in business, they have to want to be rich, there's nothing wrong with having a little touch of greed, nothing wrong in that, people have to have ambitions".

Simon Gibson was less politie about civil servants: "I don't understand why a small agile country like we are or we should be in Wales is burdened with a civil service that is monolithic in its rules structure and based on something that was set up for this institution and the nation.

"We're somewhere between a small government and a local authority in terms of critical mass and size. Why don't we have an organisation that can move quickly?"

A question the MPs were able to chew over as they joined their witnesses for lunch.

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Parliament may have deprived Westminster of its annual St David's Day debate but at least MPs get two opportunities to celebrate our patron saint.

Plaid Cymru host a gathering tonight; the traditional harpist and (pre-election) quail's eggs are said to be on standby.

Last week, secretary of state for Wales Cheryl Gillan opened the doors of the Wales Office to mark her first St David's Day in the post.

I could tell you that anyone who was anyone was there, but Labour MPs would beg to disagree.

Indeed, some are so miffed to have been left off the guest list they have started tabling parliamentary questions about the evening.

The reveals that only two of the 26 Welsh Labour MPs were invited, but every single Tory and Liberal Democrat MP from Wales got to share the wine and nibbles.

Cheryl Gillan says the event cost £780 plus VAT and was attended by "representatives of key employers and the big society".

A Wales Office spokesman adds: "Representatives of all four political parties were invited to the reception, including the shadow secretary of state (Peter Hain) and the shadow Wales Office minister (Owen Smith).

"However, as part of our continued drive for cost efficiency and value-for-money, we decided there could not be an open invitation to all Welsh MPs and peers this year."

That suggests the taxpayer gets better value-for-money from a Lib Dem backbencher or Plaid Cymru spin doctor sipping the (Gwydyr) house white (a cheeky South African number first chosen by Cheryl Gillan's predecessor) than from a former Labour secretary of state for Wales who found himself struck off the guest list.

The value-for-money hope has taken a bit of a hit with the tabling of the parliamentary question; each costs an average of £154 to answer.

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Apologies for the blogging silence. I've just spent the last four days lying down in a darkened room wondering how I will cope in a world without LCOs.

are no more as a result of last Thursday's historic/trivial* (*delete as appropriate) referendum result in a vote that "demeans the currency of referendums" (The Guardian) or makes Wales "an equal partner" with Scotland and Northern Ireland (Carwyn Jones).

"The argument over full law-making powers is over," declared the Secretary of State for Wales. The constitutional debate in Wales had been settled "if not for ever then for generations to come".

Actually, that was a past secretary of state, almost five years ago and, this being Wales, the constitutional debate is never over.

The fall-out from last week appears to have created confusion in Conservative ranks. told representatives at her Welsh party conference: "I will be starting the process of bringing increased accountability for financial matters to Wales".

That appeared to be news to her own parliamentary private secretary, Glyn Davies, who is said to have approached an adviser for an explanation.

If the Montgomeryshire MP was confused, he wasn't the only one. Wales Office Minister David Jones introduced Mrs Gillan to the audience as "the leader of the Welsh Conservative party".

One day later, prospective candidate Suzy Davies introduced Nick Bourne to the same audience as "the leader of the Welsh Conservative party". A tad confusing; if they annoint any more leaders they'll be able to form a 1990s' Plaid Cymru tribute band.

As the results came in on Friday, the assembly's presiding officer, Lord Elis-Thomas, made clear the only thing he thought was settled was that we had reached "the end of the long march" of referendums.

He warmed to his theme on Sunday suggesting the Wales Office be wound up. In the process, he wound up Peter Hain, and, to cut a long story short, that led to public tensions within Welsh Labour.

When two leading figures in the same party feel a need to publish a joint statement to "clarify" things most hacks scent a serious falling-out.

This month, four years ago, Mr Hain ruled out an assembly coalition with Plaid Cymru. According to Labour MPs, what they fear is that the Labour leadership in Cardiff Bay would be happy to continue in power with Plaid even if Labour wins a small majority in the assembly elections in May.

Who would have thought constitutional issues could lead to such excitement? Certainly not the 99 per cent who discovered other priorities in this .

All this, and a referendum on voting reform to come. I've almost forgotten about LCOs already.

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It seems like only the day before yesterday, in fact it was the day before yesterday, that a Wales Office Minister told parliament that it, and not the Welsh assembly, should decide whether St David's Day should become a public holiday.

David Jones was speaking for the UK government in a led by a Liberal Democrat backbencher.

So when he explained that Wales could not be taken in isolation and told MPs: "You can't really take Wales in isolation - there will be impact across the border" and "for that reason it is a matter that properly resides with this parliament" they were entitled to assume this was the view of the UK government.

But 48 hours is a very long time in politics and today the very same government he was representing decided to ask the assembly whether it would like the power to decide the issue.

Today, the UK government announced: "We would also consult with the Welsh assembly over giving them the power to decide whether or not to move the early May bank holiday to coincide with St David's Day."

The assembly has previously voted in favour of a bank holiday so may find it difficult to resist this invitation.

The suggestion is that a March 1 holiday would replace the May Day holiday viewed by many as an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of working people.

So workers' rights or the patron saint of Wales? An interesting dilemma for the next socialist/nationalist coalition in the assembly.

UPDATE: An e-mail arrives from the Wales Office: "A Welsh Office spokesperson said: "It is entirely correct to say that bank holidays are a matter for Parliament as they are currently set by annual orders laid before the House of Commons.

"Any additional bank holiday for St David's Day would therefore have to be agreed by Parliament. DCMS are consulting on a range of options for moving the existing May Bank Holiday and this includes the possibility of giving Welsh Ministers the powers to move it to St David's Day."

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A day is a long time in Welsh politics. Twenty-four hours ago, the Welsh Conservatives launched a manifesto to campaign for St David's Day to be made a bank holiday in Wales.

Today, a Welsh Conservative MP, speaking for the UK government, appeared to errect several large obstacles in the path of his colleagues' campaign.

Wales Office Minister David Jones said: "To have a public holiday on St David's Day - attractive no doubt as it would be - would nevertheless not be at no cost at all.

"In fact it would be at considerable economic cost and that in the current straightened economic climate is something every responsible government needs to bear in mind."

Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb is another Welsh Tory yet to be recruited to his party's campaign - he warned of the cost in terms of social impact of schools being closed on St David's Day and unable to hold eisteddfodau on March 1.

"A very important point," agreed the Minister. "It would be rather sad to see the magic of St David's Day lost."

Another government backbencher, Mark Williams, pointed out that schools, including one attended by his children, celebrate St David's Day on days other than March 1.

Mr Jones said the impact of an extra bank holiday would be £3bn across the UK (think of that at your royal wedding street party). Pro-rata, he said, the cost in Wales would be £138m.

He then warned: "You can't really take Wales in isolation - there will be impact across the border."

That's why, he said, the issue should be decided by parliament, and not the Welsh assembly.

Delyn Labour MP David Hanson raised the position of Airbus, who employ 7,000 people in Flintshire, roughly half of whom live in England - "a dilemma that could be overcome but needs consideration", he said.

David Jones: "For that reason it is a matter that properly resides with this parliament."
Mr Jones did say that the forthcoming UK-wide tourism strategy would be likely to include a proposal to move the early May bank holiday to another point in the year.

"I think the consultation would be an excellent opportunity for the groups within the Welsh assembly....to make their representation to the department of culture, media and sport."

Despite the obstacles of cost and cross-border issues, Mr Jones had some words of re-assurance for his colleagues in Cardiff: "The government is not closing its mind to the idea of a holiday on St David's Day."

Of course, the Conservative party could decide to take a lead and offer March 1 off to its own employees or indeed to staff in councils it runs, but there is little so far to suggest that it will.

Mr Jones concluded the debate by pointing out that St David was renowned for his ascetic life, living on a simple diet of bread and herbs and never drinking anything but water.

"He is also reputed to be of the habit of standing neck-deep in cold water and reciting from scriptures.

"I think it's very unlikely that St David ever took a day's holiday in his life."

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"It's good news for Wales," trilled the Secretary of State. "You should be pleased". Cheryl Gillan stopped short of urging us all to "rejoice! rejoice!" over the electrification of the railway from London to Cardiff but you could understand her happiness.

Since her appointment 10 months ago she has had to endure a series of "bad news for Wales" days as various projects, from defence training at St Athan to the passport office at Newport via the Severn barrage have been downgraded or shelved.

So it would be churlish to deny that the decision to go ahead with electrification has won plaudits from most quarters, despite understandable protests from those west of Cardiff at the failure to electrify to Swansea. ("A kick in the teeth for Swansea", said her Labour shadow Peter Hain, borrowing the Plaid Cymru thesaurus.)

Electrification will mean returning to those enjoyed in the 1970s. (At least the sandwiches are better these days, even if First Great Western now insist that customers are not allowed to carry hot drinks from the buffet car except inside a paper bag).

Journey times are only one argument for electrification, which is also seen as greener, smoother and more reliable than diesel.

A business case based on journey times alone may not have convinced a sceptical department for transport. Last December, Cheryl Gillan the initial decision to electrify as far as Didcot as one that would reduce journey times to Cardiff by 15 minutes.

Yesterday's announcement, she said, would mean journey times to Cardiff are cut by a total of 17 minutes - a net gain of two minutes on what we were promised three months ago. Leaves on the line permitting, of course.

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If there were to be an Oscar for optimism in politics then it is perhaps appropriate that it should go to the man in charge of Welsh rugby.

WRU chief executive Roger Lewis, is chair of the campaign, or perhaps I should say "team" as he used the word seven times in his first contribution to last night's debate on the Welsh assembly's powers.

Mr Lewis has consistently argued that a "yes" vote in Thursday's referendum on Welsh assembly powers will increase responsibility in Cardiff Bay.

"It will create a no blame, no excuse culture," he told Dragon's Eye last month, an argument he repeated during last night's debate in Blackwood.

The gist of the argument is that assembly members will no longer be able to blame Westminster for delaying requests for a transfer of law-making powers to Cardiff.

That may be true, but if Wales votes "yes" on Thursday the Welsh assembly government's budget will still be set by the UK government, which, on past experience, can expect to be blamed for any shortfalls.

And even if Wales votes "yes", the macro-economic levers will still rest outside Wales, a point often made by a frustrated deputy first minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones.

The referendum even featured during today's traditional St David's Day service in the chapel of St Mary Undercroft at the Palace of Westminster.

The Rev David Jones (no relation to the Wales Office Minister), used his sermon to advocate a "yes" vote on Thursday.

Cheryl Gillan's reaction was not visible, although the Welsh secretary did get to deliver a reading - Isaiah 49: 8-13, since you ask.

But I digress. If there were to be a "best supporting" optimism Oscar, I would nominate Iestyn Davies, "Wales national coordinator" of the "yes to fairer votes" campaign.

Iestyn is already looking beyond Thursday: "It's a busy time in Welsh politics at the moment," he writes. "After one referendum, this Thursday, we will see the focus switch to our campaign for fairer votes, and the referendum on May 5th."

That may be a tad hopeful, given another political event on May 5 - the Welsh assembly elections - but that has not put off the pro-alternative vote campaign from organising a at the assembly this Saturday.

Many Liberal Democrat supporters of voting change will be otherwise engaged at the party's Welsh conference in the city that day. Cardiff is also hosting the Conservatives' spring forum and Welsh conference.

So it may be difficult to get noticed, but Iestyn adds a postscript: "If you have a purple t-shirt, or jumper that you could wear, that would make the photos look just that little bit better!"

Expect something of a colour clash when Lib Dem supporters of AV descend on the photo-call clad in their bright yellow conference best.

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You learn a lot beyond Westminster. I had no idea until last week that a hotel in Prestatyn boasted a Vorderman suite.

I didn't venture beyond its door so I can't tell you whether it includes a clock and lots of large letters in honour of herself, one of the town's favourite daughters.

Prestatyn, the end of my journey from Chepstow, is also the end (or the beginning) of the Offa's Dyke path, a scenic route from south to north.

The map, and the dyke, tell you that Knighton is in Wales, although analogue TV is still available here as part of the ITV Central region - one reason, perhaps why locals seem less than absorbed with the referendum on the Welsh assembly's powers.

Jim Saunders, of the Offa's Dyke association, told me: "People who live around here on the border have had this arguably for centuries, wondering whethere you're in England or in Wales but certainly I've been around here twentysomething years and I would say the differences are gradually increasing and yes that is tending to make life more confusing and more complicated if you live on the border."

As the dyke crosses the border 27 times, perhaps confusion is understandable. More Welsh laws means more work for Welsh lawyers. I met Rachel Vasmer in Wrexham; she's a partner at solicitors Walker Smith Way, specialising in clinical negligence.

She's noted clear diferences growing between Wales and England. Wales has its own clinical redress scheme launching next month, a scheme that may allow patients redress for complaints without lengthy court proceedings.

Ms Vasmer told me that she sees no reason why there shouldn't be a distinct body of Welsh law, as there is a distinct body of Scottish law, but she says there has to be provision to deal with cross-border issues and lawyers need to be aware of the differences.

She wants the assembly to be able to make laws in devolved areas without asking Westminster first but says some issues - such as organ donation - are better decided across Wales and England.

I met at his home near Wrexham. He's a chartered architectural technologist - he plans and designs buildings and extensions.

He's voting "no" because he thinks Westminster's current role in scrutinising assembly requests to legislate is important. He works on both sides of the border so in future he'll have to include sprinkler systems in Welsh homes.

Mr Smith supports the sprinkler law as it makes houses safer but says feedback from his clients has been negative because of the expected additional cost of £2,000 or so.

Back on the promenade at Prestatyn few of the voters I spoke to appeared to be that knowledgeable about Thursday's vote, although it's possible they were not a representative sample.

At least the yes/no nature of the question suggests it should be possible to count the referendum votes without having to draft in ace mathematician Vorderman for help.

You can see the second half of my referendum roadtrip on Wales Today this evening.

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