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Sir Nicholas Winterton: Not an assembly.
Phil Hope: Elected regional assemblies, with their ears closer to the ground, can be on the spot to deal with specific issues that affect regional economies. An elected assembly in the north-west would have direct spending power, or influence, over funding amounting to some £2.1 billion. That is not loose change. It can make a considerable difference to the regional economy.
Sir Nicholas Winterton : There is no extra money.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): Order. The hon. Gentleman must not keep up a running commentary from a sedentary position when the Minister is replying to the debate.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: I believe in the truth.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. The hon. Gentleman must do as the Chair tells him.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: I shall tell the truth.
Phil Hope: The hon. Member for Congleton was right to say that we had a full debate last week in Westminster Hall, where a number of important points were made that she has repeated here. We have been very frank on costs, which were set out clearly in our regional governance White Paper. Setting-up costs will vary from region to region, obviously because of the different sizes
of their electorates, but we can expect the cost to be around £30 million in each region. The estimate includes all costs necessary to establish an assembly, including the cost of local government reviews, referendums and the first elections.It is important to provide support for the referendums and the campaigns that will take place, which will be governed by the Electoral Commission, so that they can take place properly, transparently and fairly, allowing the electors to understand all the issues before them.
To conclude, we trust the people to make their own choice.
Ann Winterton: The Under-Secretary is certainly reading out his speech magnificently and repeating many of the points that were made in the debate last week, which I did not raise tonight. It is a shame that he does not respond to some of the more important points that I made, which he has not addressed at all. Is he not capable of doing that?
Phil Hope: I directly addressed many of the points raised by the hon. Lady, specifically in relation to Europe. I understand that the hon. Lady and many members of the Conservative party have an attitude to Europe; not only are they opposed to the euro, but they are fundamentally opposed, in reality, to being part of the European Union at all. They take every opportunity they find to exhibit their anti-Europeanism. We see this
regularly in this Chamber, and it is matter of regret that rather than taking a mature attitude to Britain's relationship with the European Union, we see a phobia and an endeavour—
Ann Winterton: This is laughable.
Phil Hope: The hon. Lady makes remarks from a sedentary position. She said that I had failed to address the points that she made in her speech. I am now addressing those points about Europe and it is with great regret that I say that she clearly does not like the answers.
As we draw towards the end of this debate, I want to make it clear that the debate about the future of elected regional assemblies is a matter of choice, involving a referendum. We have had a sounding exercise that proved that there is interest in the north-west, the north-east and in Yorkshire and Humberside. Now we are offering a chance for the people to make a choice through a referendum. Labour trusts the people to make their own choice about whether they want an elected regional assembly in the north-west. That is the fundamental difference between Labour and our opponents. We are prepared to trust the people.
- Adjourned accordingly at four minutes past Twelve midnight.
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