EAGERLY anticipating the advent of a North-East Regional Assembly, Tony Flynn, leader of Newcastle City Council, declared the region would be "immensely proud'' to become the first part of Britain to have its own parliament.

But the regional assembly would be far from a parliament. Though it would run the regional development agency, much of its work would be of an "influencing" character. In words used in the White Paper, it would be able to "scrutinise'' the impact of higher education, "advise'' the Government on the allocation of local transport funds, and "co-ordinate'' business activity. The much-vaunted tax-raising power is hardly a big deal. Parish councils already raise tax.

Ah yes, parish councils. Where they exist, as in my village, these are the unit of local government with which people most readily identify. If something is amiss, the cry goes up: "The parish council should do something about it.'' And yet parish councils have minimal power. If John Prescott truly wants to "bring power closer to the people'', as he insisted when launching the regional assembly plan, the parish council is perhaps where he should start.

The bandwagon for regional assemblies rolls easily on the popular charge that decision makers in London don't understand or care about the provinces. The devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are used as levers. Prescott said: "If devolution is good enough for the Scots and Welsh, why would they (opponents of regional assemblies) deny that choice to the people of England?''

One reason is the limited power on offer. A North-East Assembly will not be able to restore student grants, fund personal care for the elderly from the public purse, or outlaw foxhunting 'twixt Tweed and Tees. Yet Scottish and Welsh MPs will remain able to vote on any matter before the UK Parliament. Voting tactically to block reforms in England that have proved popular in Scotland and Wales, they can thus seek to preserve advantages secured across the border.

The crucial need, therefore, is for an English Parliament. But the dangling of only partial power before regions like the North-East has been enough to divert them from what should be the common cause of seeking greater autonomy for England as a whole. No doubt the Government is well pleased.

The Tory charge that the regional assemblies will take local government further from the people is absolutely right. Presented on the pretext of levelling up the regions to Scotland and Wales, while also boosting grass roots power, the regional assemblies will do neither. Costing an estimated £25m each to run annually, the assemblies will simply insert a new source of public apathy between local and central government.

Highly misleading in the debate are the comparisons frequently drawn between regions like the North-East, and Scotland and Wales. Despite its strong social identity, the North-East is not a nation. Nor even are Geordieland or Yorkshire. But England is. And yet once the regional assemblies are in place, any prospect of England ever having its own voice will be gone forever. Instead, we will have New Labour's most brilliantly successful exercise in Divide and Rule.