Oh how we laughed!

Save money with the streamlining of local councils? Well, the initial reorganisation will cost £75m +

Assembly 'will save money'
Oct 15 2004
By Zoe Hughes, The Journal

Students are being urged to vote in the North-East assembly referendum with Government ministers promising it won't cost as much as critics fear.
Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford is using a speech to Durham University Labour students tonight to say an elected regional government could save the North-East as much as £124m over the next decade.

Despite students not paying council tax, Mr Raynsford will insist people will not face additional bills and "will actually see a net saving if they vote Yes".
He will argue the streamlining of local government in Northumberland and Durham will save £6.2m to £14.4m a year over the next decade. "Not only does it make sense to give people of the North-East more say over matters which affect their region, it will also lead to an overall reduction in the amount they pay for public services," he will argue.

Campaigners for a `No' vote criticised the suggestions. A spokesman said ministers had been wrong about assembly costs in Scotland, Wales and London "and they are wrong now".
"The fact is that the taxpayers of the North-East will have to pay more for all the extra politicians, spin doctors and bureaucrats," he said.
"In any case, most people in the North-East live in a unitary authority and so they will be gaining an entirely new layer of government.
"People have a simple choice: do they want to trust a politician that says he will save them money?" There are just three days to go before voters receive their ballot papers and both sides of the debate are gearing up for a major last-minute campaign push, after a Tyne Tees poll put the `Yes' vote on 29pc and the ` No' vote on 27pc.
The don't-knows still outweigh both sides at 38pc.

The North-East Says No group is hoping its first referendum broadcast last night will break the impasse after it warned that "politicians talk, we pay".

The Yes4theNorthEast campaign will counter the arguments tonight in its own referendum broadcast featuring Brendan Foster, Denise Robertson and opera singer Suzannah Clarke.
A spokesman for the `Yes' campaign said it was vital to encourage as many people as possible to vote before the November 4 poll.
"We want to encourage everyone to vote. Students are the least likely age group to vote, but we do want them to have a say as many of them are the future of the region." The elections watchdog the Electoral Commission, has also announced it will target North-East students next week to urge them to use their vote on a regional assembly.

Referendums chief Douglas Stewart will travel to Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland Universities on Monday and Tuesday to show undergraduates how they can vote in the coming weeks.