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In twenty thousand words delivered to David Cameron in July, what has Lord Roberts of Conwy said about further powers for the Assembly?

We still don't know but what we do know is what he's been saying in interviews on Radio Cymru over the past few days.

Here, in translation, is a taste:

"It's not easy getting an agreed opinion on the Assembly. I don't think that there's been much of a shift in public opinion since '97 and the first referendum. If you look at opinion polls, fewer than 50% are in favour of giving more powers to the Assembly. The fact that there hasn't been a referendum suggests that neither the Assembly Government nor the Labour Westminster government have much faith they'd win one and there's no point holding a referendum where you end up going back to the status quo".

I wouldn't dare read between the lines but I think you can safely say there aren't many positives there. He goes on:

"This is my personal opinion and I don't know whether this will be the opinion the party adopts in the end: there's a reason why there's a lack of faith in the Assembly. There is something wrong. We've now had two acts of parliament relating to the Assembly. The government - even before they'd passed the second act - acknowledged the deficiencies in the first system they'd put in place".

So?

"I think we need some sort of in-depth examination ("archwiliad pur ddwfn") to see why people are so unhappy with what devolution has delivered over the past ten years".

Could the twenty thousand words lead, in the end, to just three: yet another commission?

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