No NESNO rant. This time mutual respect.

The people of Sunderland were treated to a media circus when Ray Mallon went head to head with Herron outside the city's crumbling railway station..
However, there was more agreement than anything else, the only stumbling block was that elected assembly business, and the fact that it could not deliver on transport...or very much else.
A totally different display to that witnessed outside the NESNO offices the previous day in Durham, and it appears NESNO's referendum tactics have drawn a great deal of criticism from all quarters, including a ranting Ray Mallon on a soapbox.
The People's No Campaign maintained its line and credibility and continued to argue the case about the merits of what is being offered.
There were no hostilities, and it ended with Herron and Moran being invited to the next Boro match with Mallon...don't tell anyone in Sunderland though.

Big guns fire head-on
Oct 29 2004
By Ross Smith, The Journal

The issues were put back to the forefront of the devolution debate yesterday as two heavyweight figures on either side of the argument clashed on the streets.

After Ray Mallon's tirade against No campaigners on their Durham doorstep on Wednesday, the Middlesbrough Mayor turned his focus back to the merits of a regional assembly.
North East No Campaign director Neil Herron met the former detective outside Sunderland station as he made his way up the North-East coast by train yesterday.
And instead of repeating the fierce criticism he levelled at North East Says No activists yesterday, Mr Mallon made the assembly's powers over transport his key argument.
Though neither changed their mind, both men claimed a points victory by saying if they had met earlier they could have converted the other to their side.
Mr Mallon said: "I've travelled to Sunderland by train and it's taken me two hours to get here from Middlesbrough.
"When you look at the regional assembly documentation, it's clear the regional assembly would have responsibility for formulating a regional transport strategy.
"Transport is very much on the agenda in Middlesbrough and very much on the agenda across this whole country. We cannot continue to have the transport policy we've got.
"We've got to change it to get people out of their cars and on to public transport, and the only way we can do that is to improve public transport."
He criticised the current situation, where his council has to get approval from civil servants in the region for its local transport plan.
But Mr Herron claimed the powers on offer to the assembly will not make a difference.
"We'd like to buy into the dream, but the reality is the bill doesn't allow it," he said. "The reality is it's not going to deliver. They've had two years to sell this to the North-East. If you cannot sell the deal in two years, it doesn't matter how many celebrities come on board, they're not going to buy it."
Nesno chairman John Elliott added: "A regional assembly would simply not have the powers over transport claimed by the Yes campaign. Look at the Regional Assemblies Bill - it makes it clear that a regional assembly would not be able to upgrade the A1 and it would not be able to operate any rail franchises. All an assembly would do is express an opinion on proposals put forward elsewhere."
Afterwards, Mr Herron claimed: "We offered to sit down with Ray six months ago, but he didn't respond. If we had done, I don't think he'd be voting Yes now."
But Mr Mallon reckoned: "It's probably a pity I didn't come here a bit earlier, because if I had, I probably would have convinced him."
And he claimed he had only moved away from the issues to "knock spots off the No campaign" for one day on Wednesday.