LIBERAL Democrat leader Tim Farron has slammed the Government’s attempts to force an elected mayor on the North-East.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP said devolving power to the English regions was absolutely right but Chancellor George Osborne’s insistence on regional elected mayors meant it was not devolution at all.

“It’s not devolution if you’re told what kind of system you have. It should be up to the North-East to decide what its boundaries are and what system of governance it needs,” Mr Farron said.

The Northern Echo:
Leader of the the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron talks with the directors of Cobalt Studios during his visit to Newcastle. Picture: Stuart Boulton

“To be told you can only have this if you have an elected mayor… that should be up to the North-East to decide, not to be told by Westminster.”

North-East leaders signed a devolution agreement with the Chancellor in October, offering powers over economic development, skills, transport and housing to a mayor to be elected in May 2017.

But the seven councils involved, across County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, are still consulting on the proposals.

The Lib Dem leader was speaking today (Monday, January 25) during a visit to Newcastle, where he hosted a ‘Talk to Tim’ event at Newcastle University Students’ Union (NUSU), where he served as president in 1991.

He also called for more money for the Tyne and Wear Metro, saying every pound invested “pays back several times over” and makes Newcastle more of an “alternative capital for the North of England”.

The 45-year-old also called for more support for the Citizens Advice Bureau and made the case for the UK staying in the European Union, saying without the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) livestock and dairy farming would “probably disappear”.

The Lib Dems lost both their North-East Parliamentary seats, in Berwick and Redcar, at last year’s General Election.

Mr Farron said that had been very disappointing and recovery might take a long time, but there was now an “enormous space” for his party to be the real opposition to the Tories.

“In places like Berwick there’s a real prospect of us coming back as we fight for the North against a Tory Government that has clearly got it in for the North and a Labour opposition that wants to talk to itself and about itself,” he said.