The post of Welsh Secretary will be retained if Labour wins the general election, Tony Blair has confirmed during his second campaign visit to Wales.

In an interview with BBC Wales, Blair denied there were any plans to scrap the post of Welsh secretary after the general election.

He also praised the role of Rhodri Morgan in leading the Welsh assembly.

Plaid Cymru's Ieuan Wyn Jones challenged the prime minister to say whether he aimed to close the gap between rich and poor.

"The introduction of the private sector into public service provision is on new Labour's political agenda. Plaid Cymru finds the prospect privatising health and education frankly terrifying," said Jones.

Elsewhere in Wales, Labour is continuing its campaign to retain support amongst its traditional supporters. Peter Hain is campaigning in the Rhondda and Caerphilly today. "The people of the Valleys have a great deal at stake in this election," argues Hain. Glenys Kinnock and Jon Owen Jones are also campaigning amongst pensioners in Cardiff.

In other campaigning, both Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives have sought to keep up the pressure on Mike German, the Lib Dem deputy first minister in the Welsh assembly.

It was revealed on Monday that the Welsh Joint Education Committee is to refer an audit report to the South Wales Police. The focus of the investigation was the management of the WJEC's European Unit between 1995 and 1996, a time when German was the unit's head.

In a statement to the assembly, Rhodri Morgan stood by his deputy and said there was no need for him to stand down on the basis of allegations alone.

Plaid assembly members Ieuan Wyn Jones, Jocelyn Davies and Dafydd Wigley have been repeating their calls for German to resign at a press conference held this morning.

"This week's [audit] publication confirms our concerns about the extremely serious allegations of incompetence and improper behaviour that have been made about the running of the European Unit. In these circumstances it would be entirely unacceptable for Mr German to continue to carry out his duties in the second-highest office in Wales," said Jones.

Nick Bourne, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the assembly, has also raised the issue again in the assembly. He claimed Morgan had "some serious questions to answer" over his role in the publication of the WJEC auditor's report.