IF A reminder was needed on how nebulous the term “region” is, BBC1’s Look North’s item on educational attainment levels in Yorkshire and the Humber unwittingly provided one.

The programme informed viewers that “our region” had come bottom in a nationwide survey on educational achievement. Yet an average for the entire Yorkshire and Humber area is entirely meaningless.

Look North regularly conflates places as disparate as Swaledale and Sheffield into a homogeneous lump it habitually refers to as “our region”. But it is only when the region is broken down into specific areas that a true picture of what is happening is revealed.

Had this been done regarding the data on education then the salient question would have arisen: why are places like York at the top of the national league table, while Bradford and Hull remain at the bottom?

A local news programme’s interpretation of statistics may seem of little consequence. But George Osborne is trying to bully the regions into accepting devolution whether they want it or not, as with the power and money devolved to Manchester when it accepted, without a mandate from the electorate, the proposition of an elected mayor.

Only a decade ago the regions roundly rejected the creation of regional assemblies. If attitudes have changed this should be established via the ballot box.

Pressure groups obsessed with regional autonomy might appreciate Mr Osborne’s undemocratic initiative. Many people, however, do not share the current rose-tinted view of regionalism, and foresee as many problems as solutions.

Stephen Dalby, Yapham, York.