Since announcing my decision to vote No in the March referendum on granting the Welsh Assembly further powers, I have been swamped by support from all political persuasions and by some proud and patriotic countrymen.

An unofficial straw poll of the emails, letters and conversations I've had since then reveals about five No voters for each Yes. Each give the same reasons. We are a small country fighting to be competitive on the world stage. If we want to be successful we must remain part of the United Kingdom. That does not come at the expense of our proud history, our cultural identity or our jobs and economy. Breaking away, however slowly, risks all of that.

I like the Assembly and think by and large it does good work but it seems many people are afraid that the referendum is being hijacked by Nationalists who won't rest until Plaid's ultimate aim of an independent Wales is achieved.

Coming a week after the schools watchdog Estyn found that a third of Welsh schools don't meet adequate standards, I'm not convinced that granting Plaid and Labour even further powers over the education of our children is a good thing.

The Chief Inspector for Schools in Wales, Anne Keene, said that 40% of students entering secondary schools do not have adequate literacy and numeracy skills. That's not a record of which Labour and Plaid can be proud.

New figures have also just revealed that the per-pupil spending gap between Wales and England has risen to £600 – the highest level ever. Education is just one of the areas over which the Welsh Assembly Government will have full law making powers if we vote Yes - with this track record like this do we really want to give them a mandate to carry on regardless?

The "Yes" campaigners would have you believe that this is merely a minor adjustment to the way things already exist. A little "tidying up exercise", they say, "nothing to worry about".

But the last time we heard this sort of argument was in the 1970's when we voted to go into Europe.

Once again we could be sleepwalking into a situation from which there is no return – make no mistake this is creeping separatism we are witnessing.

I believe that we are standing at the top of the slippery slope to full independence. It's time to pull back before it's too late.