"The Government's decision to postpone referendums on regional assemblies in two out of three parts of northern England", it writes, "is a belated recognition of reality". It goes on:
The "great North vote", due on November 4, has been cut down to size. In fact, it will take place only in the Prime Minister's back-yard, the North-East: a curious anomaly, given that Tony Blair has barely concealed his distaste for this extension of the dogma of devolution inside England.We can only say that we will do our best to live up to the Telegraph's hopes.
From the first, regional assemblies have been John Prescott's end-of-the-pier show. His one-man act has kept going without visible means of support, either in his party or among the public. When the Government held its own consultation on these assemblies, the meagre response gave a five-to-one majority against the idea.
Alastair Campbell told journalists that the Government needed them like a hole in the head - and on this issue, at least, he spoke as his master's voice. Yet the Deputy Prime Minister's Ruritanian fantasy has so far been indulged.
Now the patent unreliability of all-postal ballots has given Downing Street an excuse to put a custard pie down Mr Prescott's pantaloons.Is there much gnashing of teeth at this news up in the North-West? Are they drowning their sorrows over in Yorkshire-and-Humberside? The putative architects of new regional Tammany Halls, the members and officials, the chauffeurs and the chefs, may lament the deferment of their dreams.
For the rest, however, we surmise that the North will take the news cheerfully. Mr Prescott's assurance that his talking shops would cost each voter the equivalent of a pint plus fish and chips never did sound plausible to those who would foot the bill.
They already have four tiers of local government, and have noticed the tendency north of the border for devolved institutions to expand. They are familiar with the corruption that is inseparable from a one-party state. Unlike Scotland, the North would have to pay for its legislators' extravagance.
So Two Jags must content himself with one assembly, and the postponement of the others is indefinite. What this suggests is that Mr Blair is flexing his muscles, after seeing off both leaders of the opposition - Michael Howard and Gordon Brown. It is only when the Prime Minister is feeling vulnerable that he throws his deputy a bone, as a reward for loyalty. Regional assemblies were just such a concession.
It is safe to assume, however, that Mr Blair has neither forgotten nor forgiven Mr Prescott's "tectonic plates" remark, which precipitated an unhelpful discussion about the leadership. The discomfiture of the Deputy Prime Minister is entirely intentional. Nor is Mr Blair keen to give so many voters a chance to blow a raspberry at the Government. The North-East, we hope, will do just that.
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