Parties make final plea to voters

4 May 2011 Last updated at 05:47 GMT The parties will make a last appeal to the voters Party leaders in Wales are making their final appeals to voters on the eve of the Welsh assembly election.

Deputy Liberal Democrat leader Simon Hughes will join campaigners in mid Wales, whilst Plaid Cymru launch a last-push advertising campaign.

Labour's Carwyn Jones will make his last speech of the campaign at the marginal seat of Aberconwy.

Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne is to be joined by Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.

Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams is to resume her attack on Labour and Plaid, accusing them of avoiding responsibility for "the failures" of the last assembly government.

"Labour's Mr Jones blames Westminster," she said. "Plaid Cymru's Mr Jones blames Labour's Mr Jones."

"Labour and Plaid, together in government, have left us with a weak economy, under-funded schools and an NHS that costs more but delivers less."

Ms Williams said Wales needed a government that would "get on with the job" of improving things not just blaming everyone else.

Meanwhile, Carwyn Jones has chosen Aberconwy, a three-way marginal, to make his last speech of the campaign.

The Welsh Labour leader will say that his party can provide an alternative to Westminster government cuts which are "too far and too fast".

Health and employment

Claiming that the Con-Lib coalition plans were "hurting but not working", Mr Jones will say that with a Labour government "Wales can show the way" in keeping fairness at the heart of government.

Plaid Cymru will be launching their final advertising push with leader Ieuan Wyn Jones stating Wales needed "innovative ways to defy the [public spending] crisis".

Criticising other parties as "uninspiring and devoid of real ideas", he will warn that "Labour cannot be allowed to take the support of the people of Wales for granted".

Emphasising his party's plans to improve employment, education and skills, Mr Jones asked people to vote for Plaid's "fresh ideas and new ways of working" that "offer a beacon of hope that Wales can rise to the challenges we face".

The Conservatives will focus on health, and Mr Bourne said: "In the final hours of the campaign we will be promoting our commitment to reverse Labour's £1bn cuts to the Welsh NHS.

"Welsh Conservatives are the only party committed to protecting the NHS budget and increasing it in line with inflation.

"Protecting the NHS budget will allow us to invest in a £10million cancer drugs fund, to improve ambulance response times and address the under funding of Welsh hospices."

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Bunting out for wedding parties

29 April 2011 Last updated at 14:00 Hundreds turned out on the streets of Wells-next-the-sea in Norfolk People across the UK have put out bunting and marked the royal wedding with more than 5,000 street parties.

St Andrews, the Fife town where Prince William and Kate Middleton met, hosted a breakfast for 1,500 people.

And David Cameron is holding a party in Downing Street, where cupcakes baked by his wife Samantha will be served.

The scenes have been replicated in streets, squares, pubs and churches across the UK, including the bride's home village of Bucklebury, Berkshire.

Fancy dress

A wedding breakfast was held in the hamlet of Chapel Row where the Middletons live, and Bucklebury Farm Park is staging a day of celebrations culminating in a proms-style fanfare.

The wedding was broadcast live on big screens in cities and towns, including in Southampton where people were encouraged to dress in patriotic red, white and blue.

Several thousand people turned out, including Michaela Coutakis, 45, who said: "We came today because it's an important national occasion.

"We're not royalists but it's bringing the country together and it's quite exciting really. We will remember this when we're old and grey and we can say we came down to the square to watch Kate and William get married."

Hundreds of revellers held a fancy dress party on the restored £39m Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Pier owner Kerry Michael, said: "It is buzzing here. The atmosphere is electric. The first people got here at around 6am for a champagne breakfast. By nine there were hundreds here."

In Cornwall, which has strong ties with the Prince of Wales, there were 30 applications for road closures so festivities could be held.

Gloucester Cathedral is showing the wedding on a giant screen, and parties are planned in the city and nearby Cheltenham.

A mass picnic is happening along the High Street of Alcester, in Warwickshire.

In Tetbury - the closest town to Highgrove House, the family home of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall - people are also enjoying picnics

In Eastbourne, East Sussex, hundreds turned up around a huge screen in Princes Park.

There were 16 street parties held in Edinburgh, including one in Broughton Street for 250 guests.

In Leeds, where Kate Middleton's father Michael was born, celebrations are taking place across the city, and York is staging a fancy dress competition and high tea.

A number of street parties are going on in Sheffield, with the focus in the city centre at Devonshire Green.

People in Hull are also joining the celebrations, with six street-party applications approved in the city, contrary to reports a few weeks ago saying no-one had applied.

A breakfast was held in St Andrews where Prince William met Kate Middleton

The Marple Bridge Association in Cheshire, meanwhile, has been planning its town centre party since Christmas, and has sold 800 tickets.

Almost 250 street parties are being held across Wales, with Cardiff leading the way with more than 50.

On Anglesey, where the couple will live, about 2,000 people watched the Bunting out for wedding parties ceremony on a giant TV screen at the island's agricultural showground.

Whilst in Londonderry, fans have dressed in full wedding attire for royal breakfasts in community centres. Events have also taken place in Belfast, Newtownards, and Templepatrick.

In London, big screens have also been erected in Hyde Park where a crowd of thousands cheered as William and Kate exchanged their vows.

Several hundred people gathered in Manchester city centre as the wedding was shown on a big screen.

Elaine Lowe, 22, who came with a group of friends, said: "The rain has held off, the sun is out, and we are all having a great day.

"Kate looks stunning and her wedding dress is fabulous. What's not to like about today?"

In Scotland, visitors at royal residence Balmoral Castle watched the ceremony on six big screens.

The event in Hyde Park in central London attracted several thousand

Hundreds brought picnics and drank champagne as they sat on the lawn outside. The royal couple have enjoyed several breaks at Prince of Wales' home on the estate.

Meanwhile, the breakfast event in St Andrews was televised worldwide.

Elsewhere in the town, John Montgomery, 44, from the Tayport area, said: "St Andrews feels responsible for all of this.

"The atmosphere's fantastic here. It's amazing really for a small Scottish town to have two billion people around the world watching it."

But in Edinburgh, republican demonstrations were in the Royal Mile, and a large unofficial party in Glasgow has been criticised by the local council.

Two parties have also planned in Bristol for those who want to avoid wedding fever; Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire is staging a "Not The Royal Wedding Party" event, and campaign group Republic hosted a "Not the Royal Wedding" street party in central London.

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