Throughout my ten years as editor, The Northern Echo has railed against the Barnett Formula.

This is a formula which dates back to the seventies - yes that long ago - and ensures that Scotland gets more Government funds than poorer regions such as the North-East.

It is an outdated and unfair formula which does not address current financial needs, but the Government won't change it for fear of upsetting the Scots.

Today, The Northern Echo reveals that a £2.3bn Forth Crossing is to go ahead in Scotland as a direct result of the Barnett Formula.

Meanwhile, the dream of a £190m Metro-style light rail scheme across the Tees Valley remains bogged down by a lack of financial support.

It is the starkest illustration yet of the way the formula works in favour of Scotland on schemes that would almost certainly be blocked in the English regions.

It has to be changed.