Two regional assembly votes postponed
The Government has announced that it is to abandon plans to hold votes on regional assemblies in Yorkshire and Humber and the North West in the autumn.
The ballot in the third region, the North East, will go ahead as planned on 4th November.
Lord Rooker made the formal announcement this morning in a debate in the House of Lords this morning on the draft legislation needed for the regional elections.
He cited concerns about the all-postal ballots in these regions in June and said that Ministers would wait for August’s report into the pilots by the Electoral Commission.
The Government had previously rejected rumours that the elections would be postponed.
The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, said: “The publication of the draft Bill today demonstrates our commitment to the elected regional assembly agenda. Elected regional assemblies will have the power to make a real difference to people’s lives. The draft Bill and accompanying policy statement make this clear.
“There have been differences of view in the Commons about whether we should go ahead with referendums in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. The Government has therefore decided to reschedule the referendums in these areas. We have listened to concerns. It is crucial that the referendums are held against a background of confidence in the voting system.
“We are still absolutely committed to giving the people of the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber the chance to have their say on the governing of their region. We will seek to reschedule these referendums at the earliest opportunity, once we have considered the report from the Electoral Commission.
“As we have heard in the House this week there is strong confidence in postal voting in the North East where there is greater experience of all-postal voting in local election pilots and where no serious concerns have been voiced.”
The Shadow Minister for the regions, Bernard Jenkin said the announcement was a “deeply embarrassing retreat.”
“It is little more than a cynical ploy to spare the Government’s humiliation in regions, where there is no public demand for another pointless layer of bureaucracy which would only take power even further away from local communities. Mr Prescott’s decision to announce the postponement on the last day before the summer holidays is a transparent attempt to bury bad news.”
Speaking before the official announcement, Liberal Democrat spokesman Edward Davey said: “Yesterday, Labour announced their plans for active citizenship, to get people more involved in their communities. But today, their plans are exposed as cynical headline chasing.
“They cannot hope to be taken seriously on active citizenship when they’re considering the postponement of two regional referendums. Rather than chickening out, Ministers should be offering electors more power.”
