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		East Midlands MEP welcomes North East referendum result Friday, 5 November 2004 East Midlands Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, has given his reaction to the result of the referendum held in the North East of England on regional devolution. The result, a massive blow to John Prescott's ambitions for the carving up of England, saw over 78% of the North East's residents vote 'no'. Mr Helmer said: "This result represents a humiliating blow for John Prescott and his dream of regional government. I was struck by comments from the BBC's Andrew Marr, not usually noted for his anti-European sentiment. He suggested that this result was a consequence of the people in the North East not wishing to sign up for Brussels plans for a 'Balkanisation' of England. To use a tennis analogy, this was an unforced error by the Government. They did not need to call this referendum. In this sense, it is strikingly similar to the proposed EU constitution. We do not need the constitution and no one particularly wants it either. Are they in for a double fault?" The result, declared at midnight of November 5th, means that the only relatively pro-devolution region in England has now rejected Mr Prescott's plans. Some sceptics saw the removal of the Yorkshire and the East Midlands regions from last night's vote as a sign that the government was resigned to losing in these regions. Not one council authority voted for the proposed regional assembly. The final total was 696,519 (78%) against, while 197,310 (22%) voted in favour.