North East 'warms to devolution'

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Article here

Most people in north-east England now support some form of devolved power for the region, a BBC poll suggests.

Two years ago to the day, more than three-quarters of voters in a referendum rejected the government's plans for an elected regional assembly.

But in a poll for the BBC's Politics Show, some 69% of 750 adults surveyed in the area said they would like local control on issues such as transport

Three-quarters of those who responded to the Mori poll for the Politics Show said they thought the North East was worse off than London, both financially and in how well it is represented at Westminster.

And more than half of the respondents said they did not get their fair share of government spending.

Voters also expressed a dislike of unelected regional assemblies, with only around 20% of respondents saying they do a worthwhile job.

The majority of people questioned said they wanted more control over some aspects of local life.

Some 69% expressed a desire for more control over areas including transport, the environment and economic development - 42% strongly.

And half of those questioned backed the government's idea of elected city mayors, contained in the recent local government white paper.

[Rural Radical]

Although no-one has suggested it. I would like the counties to be similar to States in the U.S.

Somebofy like a Governor or High Sherriff. The problem with devolution is the regions are so big, somewhere like Oswestry has little in common with Birmingham.