The column that gives leading figures in the region the opportunity to speak frankly on the issue of self-government in the North-East.

ANDY CROFT, a Middlesbrough poet who has signed petitions in favour of a regional assembly, wrote a poem read out when the North-East's pro-assembly campaign was launched earlier this year.

It included the lines:

Bring Government a little nearer

To people who call their pitbulls Shearer

And let decision-making rest

With those who know the

region best.

It went on to say:

That's not to say that saying 'yes'

Itself will guarantee success

Devolving power, by definition's

Not easy for some politicians

And politicians need to know

It's going to mean some letting go

If not, a regional assembly

Will take as long to build as Wembley...

I think this is something we all have to think about because, come October, we are going to be asked the question about what we want to happen.

Personally, I do not mind which way people vote as long as we have a debate.

However, my view is that this is an opportunity to show how grown-up, politically, the North-East is. I feel we should take that opportunity.

For years, we have been moaning how little a say London gives us in our affairs.

Well, London is offering us some power. It may not be much at first, but it is a start.

If this is to work, it really does have to be different. We have to discard the old tired ways of government in favour of newer ways of working.

I believe the Government is offering devolution to areas where it already has strong Labour support. It is not doing it in Surrey, is it?

So, if regional government is to work, it must be a truly democratic process and not one run on party political grounds, when a small number of politicians decide everything in advance of meetings.

There is no doubt that Labour would win 90 per cent of the seats in a regional government election, but we must make sure that it is not a Labour-dominated body.

It should be cross-party, or, ideally, non-political. Party politics should have no place in regional government.

We should be looking for the Labour Party to show how grown up it is, that it is able to share power.

We should consider the system they use on the Continent, where people from all backgrounds are invited to serve in government, rather than those linked to a party.

Regional government sho-uld represent everyone, there should be business people, Asian people, young people, women, people from the north of the region, people from the south of the region. Everyone has to be represented.

I think the regional government debate is also important because we have to think about who we are.

When we are on holiday and people ask us where we are from, what do we say? Are we from Britain, are we from England, are we from the North-East, are we Geordies, Mackems or Smoggies?

I came to Teesside from Greater Manchester in 1983 for a job and fell in love with Middlesbrough and have been here ever since.

I do have a sense of region. I am a North-East patriot -I am disappointed that Sunderland did not get to the cup final.

If Sunderland are playing Boro, I want Boro to win, but if Boro, Newcastle or Sunderland are playing Arsenal, I want the local team to win.

I feel that if we can get regional government right, there are benefits for the North-East. It is about strengthening the power base in the region, about loosening central government power, not tightening it.

What is needed is a debate. Come October, we have to have people buzzing about it, we have to have them arguing about what regional government means.

The alternative is a more passive debate, which is not really a debate at all. We just become recipients of that debate, rather than taking part in it.

Everyone has to have a view on this: it has to transcend geography and involve Smoggies and Mackems and Geordies.

I feel all the main conurbations, be they Tyneside, Wearside or Teesside, are more or less the same. The major differences of opinion are more likely to come between people in urban and rural areas.

But there are only two million of us in the North-East, and this is about showing that we can all work together.

Regional government would be a risk. We might make it a success or make a mess of it, but it is a risk worth taking.

* What do you think? Write to Hear All Sides, The Northern Echo, PO Box 14, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF