DEVOLUTION FOR NORTH EAST ENGLAND

That this House welcomes the devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales, and the official openings of their new forums for democratic, economic and social renewal; is aware of the tradition within North East England, long supported by Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens, and sectors of broad-based community opinion, for devolution of powers away from Whitehall and Westminster; notes the existence of the first major non-party campaign for devolution in England, the Campaign for a Northern Assembly, which was established in 1992 and continues to receive backing from various elements of north eastern life; wholeheartedly supports the current work undertaken by the first convention on devolution south of the Scottish border, the North East Constitutional Convention; believes that the convention, chaired by the Bishop of Durham, seeking to bring diverse strands of political, social, and cultural opinion together to unite behind a blueprint for an assembly in a spirit of consensus, will succeed in its aims; and welcomes all efforts to speed up the process for the implementation of devolution for North East England, and for other English regions too if they wish it, in order that they too can join Scottish, Welsh, and London counterparts in embracing the positive benefits of decentralised decision-making.