My vision for the North-East

By proposing an assembly made up of interest groups, from business to education, in addition to the elected politicians, the former Cabinet Minister is setting out his approach to winning a broad consensus for the idea of a regional parliament.

And, in his first major policy speech since his resignation as Northern Ireland Secretary in January, it was clear his vision could be seen as the first step in a build-up to a referendum campaign early in the next Parliament.

"The elected element would need to be based on proportional representation, drawing together all the political parties and areas of the region," he says. "PR would remove the danger of abuse by a majority or the dominance of one locality over the rest, something that concerns us in the south of the North-East region.

"The authority should in turn appoint half its members from representatives of the key players in the region, from manufacturers, new technology industries, trade unions, educationalists, bankers and venture capitalists.

"This would ensure that the work of the authority incorporates the needs and views of corporate interests in the region."

He believes the authority could also nominate a small executive and First Minister, but stresses the importance of maintaining support from all groups represented in the assembly, ensuring one does not dominate at the expense of others. "It would not have been possible to give the Northern Ireland Executive the authority and credibility it needed to do its job without it being representative and grounded in the reality of the place," he says.

Mr Mandelson admits that he has not always been a supporter of regional government, but says Labour's attempts to improve economic performance over the last four years have convinced him of the need for a major change in our political institutions.

Despite the Government's best efforts, he believes it will be impossible for the North-East fully to join in the economic revival without creating new regional bodies to put policies into practice.

The Government has stressed in the past that differences within regions are as great as those between them, but Mr Mandelson rejects claims there are no longer regional differences.

"The statistics show that a large performance gap between regions remains. London and the south east is the richest region in the European Union, admittedly with its own pockets of poverty and social exclusion," he says. "But in every other part of the United Kingdom, standards of living are below the European average."

He says Hartlepool's economic success early in the last century, for example, was the result of the strength of the regional economy, as Durham coal created the conditions for steel-making which led to ship-building and heavy engineering. And, he argues, it is only by transforming the economic performance of the region as a whole that the fortunes of towns such as Hartlepool can be fully revived. This, in turn, he suggests, can only be accomplished by a new approach to regional policy.

"My argument is that while our policies are right, the delivery mechanisms are not properly in place. Top-down departmental initiatives and an appointed regional developmental agency, which is just one actor on the regional scene, will not, on their own, enable us to fully grasp the potential afforded by the burgeoning knowledge economy of the future."

Despite his support for the regional development agency, he believes it is only part of the solution. Lacking the democratic legitimacy which would enable it to impose its views, One NorthEast also struggles to make its voice heard in Whitehall, he says.

As well as providing legitimacy, a regional assembly would also bring together the wide range of Government initiatives, in danger of losing impact through being fragmented.

And, he says, it would also be able to take on the responsibility of investing in public infrastructure - improving transport links, education and training services, housing and recreation. "Modern regional policy requires a stronger sense of vision, a clear regional enterprise strategy, a thoroughly joined-up approach to delivery between business and politics and public investment in the regional structure on a substantial scale."

A regional assembly could also take on responsibility for the police, fire and ambulance services, he believes, although it should not take power from existing local authorities.

Mr Mandelson seems in no doubt of the scale of the task in convincing the people of the North-East of the value of regional government, but believes a commitment to an early referendum in Labour's election manifesto is a first step.

"Of course, this new arrangement could only operate after being approved by a regional referendum, held during the course of the next Parliament. I do not believe the outcome would be open and shut.

"But I believe that if we make provision for such regional referenda in the Labour Party's General Election manifesto, the North-East should go ahead and hold one early in the next parliament."

The referendum, he believes, would offer an opportunity for the region to accept the challenge of shaping its own future.

"For over a century, the North-East and Hartlepool itself have suffered from relative industrial decline, persistently high unemployment and a lower than average rate of economic growth," he says. "The Conservatives under Mrs Thatcher adopted a new regional strategy - that of blaming the victims.

"Yet we know the truth. In order to sustain a flawed economic policy, our region was excluded from sharing in Britain's prosperity. Now the time has come for the North-East to reverse this neglect by taking greater control of its own destiny."