North West Parliament Would Be Ridiculed

 

North West Euro MP David Sumberg has called upon the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to abandon the idea of setting up a North West parliament.

Mr Sumberg was speaking after Mr Prescott's speech on Regional Assemblies in York which confirmed that referendums on the election of regional parliaments will be held before the next General Election.

"I cannot stress the tremendous - and irreparable - harm creating a North West parliament would cause,' he said. "Our present system of local Government works - we must not lose sight of that. To establish a North West parliament we will have to abolish shire councils like Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire and transfer local decision making to a remote tin pot parliament in Liverpool or Manchester. This is lunacy. At a time when voter apathy is one of the most critical problems facing the political world we cannot afford to make politics even more detached from the public. Local decision making - to remain credible - must remain local."

Mr Sumberg said he is deeply concerned that the public is unaware of the astronomical cost of regional devolution.

"The cost to the taxpayer of building a new parliament and creating countless new politicians, civil servants and layers of bureaucracy will be absolutely colossal,' he said. "In Scotland and Wales the cost of devolution has spiralled wildly out of control and has delivered only disappointment. This has led to considerable resentment and disillusionment among the public. I predict now that a North West parliament would have exactly the same effect.

"But it can be prevented. I urge the North West public to join me in calling on John Prescott and Tony Blair to abandon regional devolution. The nightmare must not become a reality."