Regional assemblies: auf wiedersehen, pet

If Geordies don't want New Labour's regional assemblies, no-one does.

Figures announced on Thursday night showed that 78 per cent had voted 'no' to the proposed assembly, with 22 per cent in favour. The north-east was the first to hold a referendum on the grounds that it was the most likely to agree to the plans - but the tactic backfired spectacularly.

'The North East public have answered in an emphatic way. I am a democrat and I accept that,' said deputy prime minister John Prescott who was in charge of the regional assembly campaign and whose own feeble reputation took another blow. John Elliott of the North East Says No campaign told the BBC, 'I would rather John Prescott has two weeks' embarrassment than us be saddled with a £25m white elephant.'

The idea of regional assemblies was to try to reconnect with the people by bringing government closer to them. But the problem is not that decisions are made in Westminster rather than Newcastle - rather, it is that none of the people making the decisions has any vision for how society could be made better or, in fact, substantially different. As a result, politicians appear as a self-serving group of people who never do anything for 'ordinary' people. Creating regional assemblies just adds another layer - as similar initiatives in Scotland, Wales and London have only too clear demonstrated.

In fact, the cynicism towards politicians is so great almost any political initiative at the moment is likely to be rejected because no-one believes that politicians have our best interests at heart. Still, perhaps the government can take comfort from the relatively high turnout: 48 per cent. Perhaps at last they've found something we can all unite around: hating the government.

North East votes 'no' to assembly, BBC News, 5 November 2004