WHEN Tony Blair boasted to the Labour Party conference last year that he had no reverse gear, we warned that it was a dangerous statement to make.

Sometimes, when the road ahead is blocked, a reverse gear can come in very handy.

Since the Prime Minister proudly dispensed with his reverse gear, the Government has gone back on its manifesto pledge on tuition fees, and yesterday performed another spectacular u-turn by announcing a referendum on the EU Constitution.

In the circumstances, Michael Howard could hardly miss the open goal he was offered. Nevertheless, the Tory leader's impressive attack on the "king of spin" reminded us all why Iain Duncan Smith had to be replaced.

In seeking to dispossess the Tories of one of their election weapons, Mr Blair has submitted to a high risk strategy. The grave danger is that it will backfire, leaving voters wondering whether Mr Blair has lost his sense of direction and if he can be trusted.

We have also taken careful note of Mr Blair's insistence yesterday that Parliament should debate the European Constitution in detail and the electorate should only be asked their opinion "when all our questions have been answered".

This year, the people of the North-East and Yorkshire will be asked to vote on regional government.

With six months to go, they do not know the details of what they will be voting for, including the key question of where regional assemblies would be based.

If a referendum on the EU Constitution must wait until all questions are answered, the Government had better not expect the northern regions to vote in the dark when it comes to regional government.

We want to know exactly what we are voting for. And in the North-East's case, we want to know that an assembly would be based in Durham.