Wednesday 18th August
Let Parliament make the big decisions, not referenda
In the near future, we in the North East will be invited to decide by referendum whether we want an elected regional assembly.
Referendums are runaway legislation, the worst type of legislation, because it is out of the control of parliament.
It has finally to be ratified by Parliament taking a decionless decision. This is a decision where there is only one option.
In a parliamentary democracy major political decisions should be made by Parliament, which is responsible to the people. For instance, the Heath Government in 1972 took us into the European Economic Community, now the European Union, a clear parliamentary decision for which the Conservative Party must accept responsibility.
Then, in 1975 under the Wilson labour Government, we remained in it thanks to a referendum.
The majority of the electorate were in favour of remaining in. This received the parliamentary imprimatur automatically.
The electorate were the decision-makers in this legislation. But many of them are now dead and the decision affects many citizens who were not born then.
In a few years time, if we remain in the European Union, no one alive will be responsible for making the decision.
So referendums can end up affecting everyone but attributable to no one. Another strong argument against referendums is that everyone is at the mercy of the ill informed. The soon-to-be-held referendum bears all the hallmarks of the irrational arrogance of the present government.
Can we return to parliamentary government?
Bernard Foster
Blyth
Northumberland
Many assembly supporters are naive wishful thinkers
In recent months, numerous letters have been printed concerning the proposed regional assembly.
The basic truth is that 90pc of letters supporting the notion of a regional assembly are from naïve wishful thinkers who clearly have little grasp of the pros and cons.
The Most recent example is your now regular correspondent Lisa Campbell (latest August 12).
If you really have something worthwhile to say, Lisa, why don’t you answer the five or six simple questions put to you recently by Mr Neil Herron?
We remain in eager anticipation!
M Thomas
High Heworth
Gateshead
Current assembly is tarnished so we are disillusioned
Lisa Campbell writes (August 12) that the "unelected North East regional assembly is accountable to Whitehall".
Nothing could be further from the truth: the NEA consists of delegates from all the local authorities in the region who have been elected to their respective councils and delegated to the NEA. It is financed by those councils with our council tax and is therefore entirely accountable to us.
Last year, the North East assembly was given a serve rap on the knuckles by the government watchdog the Audit Commission for misappropriating funds. Is it any wonder that many of us want nothing more to do with a body that is already tarnished by people who want more power?
David Lockie
Berwick Upon Tweed
Northumberland
A No vote would kill home rule for a generation
An especially misleading day’s letters yesterday from the supporters of a No vote in the assembly referendum. John Elliott tells us "smaller parties and independents have found themselves swamped out of the Scottish Parliament".
Really? At the last elections, the Greens, Scottish Socialists and Senior Citizens all won seats, along with no fewer than three independents.
Any party winning 5pc of the vote will be represented in the North East Regional Assembly.
Then John Elliott tells us that the powers available to the Assembly will be insufficient and we should vote No to make the government "think again".
Well, others and I have repeatedly challenged leading No campaigners to say whether they would vote Yes if the powers were greater.
Without exception so far, they all make it clear that they would be even more opposed to a more powerful assembly.
They really are against decisions affecting the region being taken by elected people within the region. If I were wrong, perhaps one of these campaigners would spell out, realistically, what powers would satisfy them.
I won’t hold my breath.
In any case, the reality is that a No vote would be a disaster for the region, as it would kill off devolution for at least a generation.
Finally, Henry and Eleanor Justice tell us that he proposed new "North East" party is a "Labour spin job to get more interest in the assemblies". If that’s the case, I, as a Labour Party regional board member, would have expected to know something about it. As it is the first I learned of it when I read about it on The Journal.
Paul Tinnion
Whickham
Gateshead
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