Memorandum by Mr Richard Nixon (RG 04)
I am given to understand that your Committee
is examining the issues relating to regional government. Here
is my submission.
Firstly, "democracy" as defined in
it's simplest form in my dictionary is expressed as "the
will of the people". Regional government in any form has
not been requested by "the people", and I am not aware
that Government has such a mandate for the introduction of it.
Unfortunately Government increasingly thinks that it has "carte
blanche" to do anything it likes, and forgets that it is
there to serve the people, and not the other way round. It is
a strange situation that those who spend public money seem to
be more important in their own eyes and rewarded accordingly (honours,
salary, and pensions etc) than those who generate the money in
the first place.
Secondly, we already have more than enough in
the way of legislation making bodies in the shape of Parish Councils,
Town/City/District Councils, Parliament, and in more recent times
the European Union. Not necessarily with the best of intentions
they produce legislation, sometimes this even achieving the opposite
of what is intended. There is such a thing as straws and camels
backs, and eventually the camel says "enough" and gives
up.
Thirdly, the electorate of the North-East made
it perfectly clear by nearly four votes to one in November 2004
that they did not want a regional assembly, yet Government still
persists with it. As others have already stated, is there some
part of the word "NO" that is not understood?
Fourthly, this is yet another breach of the
Contract between Government and the Electorate that has been in
being for 30 years now. Who prosecutes Government for this?
Summing up, regional government will be unable
to achieve anything that cannot be done already, it is unnecessary
and unwanted. Abandon it now.
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