Mixed response to assembly proposal

Exeter would be the likely home of a South West regional assembly

Opinion is divided over the possibility of an elected regional assembly for the South West.

Parliament recently passed a law allowing a referendum to be held asking local people whether they want an assembly.

Any new body would cover an area stretching from Land's End in Cornwall to Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

But viewpoints are very mixed on whether it would be good for the South West.

Those in favour say the system is the future and it has already worked very well in Europe.

We will see Westminster, and national governments throughout the EU, become redundant

David Owen, Campaign for an Independent Britain

Opponents, however, fear it is just a further dilution of Westminster's powers and that the South West - as laid out by the government - is too diverse and unwieldy to be seen as one area.

Any assembly would be likely to sit in Exeter, which would in itself provoke opposition from the far reaches of the region.

Campaigners in Cornwall would also like their own assembly, but that has been ruled out by the government.

David Owen, of the Campaign for an Independent Britain, is very much against regional assemblies.

He said they were a slippery slope towards the demise of Westminster, with regional assemblies simply taking their direction from Brussels.

It's about taking power away from the superpowers

Chris Clarke, South West Regional Assembly vice-chairman

"The idea is eventually these regional parliaments all over the European Union will report directly to the committee for the regions in Brussels.

"We will see Westminster, and national governments throughout the EU, become redundant," he said.

But that view is challenged by Liberal Democrat county councillor Chris Clarke, who is vice-chairman of the present unelected so-called South West Regional Assembly - based in Taunton - which was created by the government.

He said more decisions should be taken in the South West, rather than at Westminster, and that France and Germany already benefited from elected assemblies.

Removing power

"Only at a regional level can you join together the transport, training and employment decisions so that you get everything to work on the ground," he said.

"Some of those regions in France and Germany have really shown the way.

"It isn't about big superpowers.

"It's about taking power away from the superpowers - in our case, the UK government which meets in London and takes decisions without any local knowledge and without consulting anybody."