THE year 2004 will see increased pressure brought to bear upon the people of Great Britain to sign away their birthright.

This will be done by the Government bowing to the will of their masters in Brussels and, by hook or by crook, introducing Regional Government in three regions of the North of England.

It is to be noted that all three of these regions are controlled by New Labour puppets. They will of course follow the party line and feed disinformation or, as recently shown by the Labour controlled Lancashire County Council publication 'Vision,' biased information to the public.

Although the Government has claimed that the populace of the three selected regions will be asked to vote on having a regional government, the manner in which the Westminster government has pre-empted the result of any such vote and are in the process of setting up large unitary councils within the selected regions in readiness for a further higher tier of regional government shows their intent.

Surely it would have been more honest to find out nationally if the population want regional government, instead of being selective as to which populations are to be questioned and told that the 'status quo' is not an option before being given the vote on the subject.

It will follow that the way in which these three selected regions vote will be used as a format and reason for the imposition of regional-based government on the rest of the UK.

It is said by the Westminster government that the reason for considering the introduction of a further tier of regional government is to 'bring government closer to the people.'

This is utter rot. If implemented, there will be less representation of the people at a local level, more paid bureaucracy and less control over local services.

If adopted, the outcome of the imposition of such regional governments in the UK will mean that Brussels, with all it's inherent corruption and mis-management, will be able to directly interfere in the day-to-day running of this and other regions. This will be done in a manner which will eventually remove all the governmental power from Westminster, hereby effectively removing our Parliamentary democracy.

The only reason that Britain is doing so well in the world of trade and commerce is because we have managed to keep the EC at arms length.

The outcome of any 'carve up' of the UK is a further move by those who wish 'to divide and conquer.'

ANTONY HAWORTH, Pendleside Close, Sabden, Clitheroe.