Spotlight of Scrutiny to shine on 'Double- Speak' Foote Wood

A response to Mr. 'Double-Speak' who calls the unelected North East Assembly the 'indirectly-elected' assembly.
The members are appointed Mr. FW.

Northern Echo
8th July 2005
REGIONAL ASSEMBLY
CHRIS Foote-Wood's letter (HAS, July 6) is the most astonishing piece of blind misrepresentation imaginable.Mr Foote-Wood and his colleagues on the North East Regional Assembly simply do not understand what a 78 per cent No to regional government really means.No matter how well intentioned he and his colleagues are regarding the welfare of the North-East, the electorate do not want local politicians elevated beyond the role to which they were elected within their local authority.As a director of the North East No Campaign, I heard this over and over again at more than 50 meetings throughout the region.There is more than enough elected representation, Parliamentary and otherwise, to promote the needs of the North-East. The regional assemblies installed in all UK regions were simply established for political reasons. After the November vote they have no legitimate right to exist. Can Mr Foote-Wood and his friends not grasp this fact?The inescapable fact is that the assembly is a talking shop with a minority of the members doing the talking, and all at the expense of the taxpayers of the North-East's 25 councils. - Colin Moran, former director North East No Campaign), Sunderland.