THE Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed what shrewd observers took for granted - if the North-East rejects the idea of having an elected assembly, then the devolution experiment across other regions of England will be stopped in its tracks.

With rejection, goes any realistic opportunity of changing central government policy towards the regions.

Without a regional assembly, it is now abundantly clear that the North-East will be saddled with the status quo for a considerable period of time.

Voters must bear this in mind when they contemplate filling in ballot papers, which begin to arrive at homes this morning.

The No campaign has proved itself very adept at promoting the negatives. And the Yes campaign has found itself unable to counter accusations that the regional assembly will have precious few powers to make a significant change.

But if there is consensus that the status quo is not good enough, the challenge has been for the No campaign to propose alternative reforms to the ones on offer. Largely, it has failed to rise to the challenge.

For all its failings, the regional assembly is the only plan on the table.

A No vote in the referendum will ensure the continuation of a regime which has failed to tackled the North-South divide and devolve to our region decisions which have a direct impact on our region.

With a regional assembly, the North-East at least has an opportunity to attempt to right those wrongs.

A No vote will deny us that opportunity for the foreseeable future.