DEPUTY Prime minister John Prescott gave an impassioned speech to around 250 people who turned up in Kendal to hear him speak on an elected regional assembly for the North West.

Mr Prescott made no bones about his strong personal desire to see elected regional assemblies - he had, he said, "been campaigning for it for 30 years".

But he stressed that the meeting was not to convince people to vote for or against devolution, but simply to give accurate information and canvass opinion ahead of an autumn referendum on whether the people Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire want an assembly.

He said that together, the three proposed northern assemblies - North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber would represent around 15 million people and would have "more political whack" in Westminster, giving the north a better chance of achieving its goals.

He said elected assemblies would take much of the power and money now wielded by Whitehall and by around 180 quangos in the north, and put it in the hands of accountable elected representatives.

Such assemblies, he said, would not replace local authorities, but would concentrate on longer-term strategic goals for the region such as planning policy, economic policy and housing.

"This is not about cleaning the streets, running your local school or hospital it's about delivering jobs, growth, homes and transport across the region," he said.

London, Scotland, Wales and Ireland had all benefited from devolution, said Mr Prescott, and he believed that the three northern regions could do the same.

If they did, he said, there would be "a huge prize" with the northern regions wielding enough economic muscle to begin to close the north/south divide and bring billions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of jobs to the north.

Closing the economic gap between north and south would, he claimed, also improve other areas such as infant mortality, life expectancy, obesity and health, where the north lagged behind the south.

Mr Prescott also promised to investigate the frequently-raised Cumbria objection that the county will be under-represented in any assembly electing members based on population.

Cumbria accounts for almost half of the total land area of the North West, but is home to only eight per cent of its population. It is likely to get only two seats on the predicted 25 or 30-seat assembly. Fears have been expressed by opponents and supporters alike that Cumbria's voice would be drowned out by the better represented urban population centres such as Manchester and Liverpool.

Mr Prescott said he understood the problem and would "see what could be done".

The Deputy Prime Minister's performance did not suit everybody. Television journalist Brian Morris, from the North West's official "No" campaign against devolution, was furious that Mr Prescott had used the Kendal meeting, and others in the region, as propaganda for a "yes" vote.

Mr Morris accused Mr Prescott of stifling debate by refusing to allow "No" representative on to his "hand-picked" panel.

"This was just John Prescott blasting away. We got just two questions in two-and-a-half hours."

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