- guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 May 2000 02.27 BST
With members of the party's national policy forum pressing for some commitment from the party in the next election manifesto, ministers are openly questioning No 10's insistence that there is little demand for regional government.
In the prime minister's absence at question time this week, his deputy, John Prescott, again made plain his backing for regional government, albeit in coded form.
The latest to signal support for a campaign centred in Mr Blair's own base in the north east, is Hilary Armstrong, the local government minister and Blair constituency neighbour in Co Durham.
As the region closest to Scotland the north east has long been keenest to match its regional perks.
"What we will have to do is bring forward enabling legislation to enable referendumns to take place. We are doing that at the moment. We will have a referendum," Ms Armstrong said this week.
But Mr Blair is feeling bruised over his experience so far with devolution. "The feeling in No 10 is that we need this like a hole in the head," said one official. Party HQ in Millbank shares the view that Brirtain is now suffering voting fatigue where electors are reluctant to turn out for existing forms of local government.
But the junior environment minister, and MP for Sunderland South, Chris Mullin - who recently broke ranks by calling for a boycott of Barclays Bank in protest at rural branch closures - even called this week for the devolution referendum in the north east to coincide with the next general election to boost voter turn-out.
Joyce Quin, junior agriculture minister and a neighbouring Tyneside MP, has said she would be very disappointed if the government stalled on English devolution after transferring powers to Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Pressed by the Newcastle Central MP, Jim Cousins, in the Commons, Mr Prescott said: "We will be looking at what we put in the manifesto and I will be arguing for re gional government." Pressure on Downing Street intensified yesterday when campaigners for an assembly in the north east released the findings of a survey showing that 19 MPs in the region, including a government whip, two ministers and two former ministers, backed regional government.
Ten north east MPs did not reply to the survey - including Tony Blair, Hilary Armstrong, the trade and industry secretary, Stephen Byers and the agriculture minister, Nick Brown. Alan Milburn, the health secretary, said he was "preparing a response".
Ms Armstrong told regional government campaigners at a London meeting that the government could introduce legislation to test support in a series of referendums. Millbank calls that "an aspiration, rather than a pledge".
Labour's national policy forum - charged with drawing up the election manifesto - has urged the government to set out the options for regional government in a green paper.
