JOHN Prescott's attempts to introduce regional assemblies in northern England in 2004 failed for lack of interest.

Only one referendum was held, in the north east. Fewer than half of voters bothered to take part - and the vast majority of those who did were firmly against the idea. A proposed referendum over a Yorkshire and the Humber assembly never even took place.

Times change, however. Following last year's Scottish referendum, the question of greater regional devolution for the English regions raised its head once again.

This week, a new party, Yorkshire First, launched its general election campaign in York: in Parliament Street, naturally.

The party isn't interested in independence for Yorkshire. But it does want more powers devolved to a regional parliament, possibly in York.

Yorkshire has a larger population than Scotland and an economy twice the size of Wales. Yet those two regions have their own assemblies, and Yorkshire doesn't, Yorkshire First points out.

"Yorkshire has no overall voice and that is not good enough," said the party's leader, Richard Carter.

Not everyone would necessarily relish the idea of yet another tier of local government. But there will be many Yorkshire people who do feel that too many decisions affecting this region are made hundreds of miles away in Westminster.

For all the noise made by politicians immediately after the Scottish referendum, little progress has been made since on English devolution.

It seems a sad indictment of our parliamentary system that it should take the setting up of a new political party to get the issue properly debated.

We're not necessarily suggesting you should vote for Yorkshire First. But we welcome the way the party has put the issue of devolved powers for Yorkshire firmly on the agenda.