DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott yesterday declared the referendum campaign over a directly-elected assembly for the North-East to be a straight-forward Labour versus Tory fight.

During a tour of the region to mark the start of the Labour Yes campaign, Mr Prescott, widely regarded as the architect of the proposed assembly, shifted the argument back to traditional party political grounds.

"It isn't just Yes versus No, it is Labour versus Tory. The Tories are against the referendum, they are against the assembly, and so it makes it very much Labour versus Tory.

"Why are the Tories always opposed to ordinary people having a say about decisions which really affect them?

"For years, the North-East has waited for the opportunity and now Labour has come along and delivered on its promise to devolve power to the regions. The North-East is leading the way."

After a sedate start to the referendum campaign marked by politeness on all sides, the temperature rose considerably yesterday from the moment Mr Prescott stepped off his battle bus in Durham City's Market Place.

From his platform outside the Market Tavern, where the first Durham miners' union was formed 130 years ago, the event had the highly-charged atmosphere of a Victorian political rally.

Despite winning the cheers of a 100-strong crowd of supporters, Mr Prescott was first accosted by Durham University students, who managed to snatch a picture of the politician, nicknamed Two Jags, holding a newspaper proclaiming victory in the campaign to provide more parking spaces for students.

Then he was outflanked by No campaigners who had brought a mobile advertising hoarding into the Market Place and, finally, was loudly harangued by a group of pro-hunting demonstrators.

However, Mr Prescott overcame a sometimes hostile crowd to get his message across. "The people of this region are going to vote Yes," he said. "The North-East is going to blaze a trail."

. . . but no campaign says it's money up in smoke

NORTH-EAST Says No campaigners yesterday set fire to £1.25m in fake bank notes to highlight what they say would be the amount of money wasted each week by a regional assembly.

The group believes the assembly would cost taxpayers £2,500 every six minutes - a figure they base on the costs of devolution elsewhere in the country.

According to Government figures, the assembly would cost £25m a year to run, which works out at about £2.50 per year for every taxpayer in the region.

However, North-East Says No has calculated that the running costs of devolution in Scotland, Wales and London have averaged more than 250 per cent higher than anticipated and, on that basis, argue that the real figure is likely to reach £65m.

That, they argue, would pay for 64 teachers, 93 hospital nurses or 2,700 computers for schools every week.

Yesterday, campaign leaders gathered at a farmyard on the outskirts of Durham to symbolically send the money up in smoke to illustrate their point.

Chairman John Elliott said: "Because an assembly would not have powers to benefit ordinary people, the money might as well be burned."

However, Yes4TheNorthEast hit back at what they described as ludicrous myths.

Sir John Hall said: "I'm afraid these No campaign figures simply do not add up. The costs of a regional assembly will be 5p per week for the average council taxpayer and there will be up to 500 less politicians throughout the North-East with a regional assembly.

"Spreading this mix of guesswork and myth to the people of the North-East just isn't good enough."