- guardian.co.uk, Monday November 1 2004 13.39 GMT
The north-east is "socially excluded" from the rest of England, according to a new report.
The Local Futures thinktank reveals that the region is falling further behind the rest of the country in terms of pay, despite leading the country on job regeneration, with a heavy reliance on public sector jobs.
The report was published last Friday as the north-east gears up to decide whether to stake its future on a devolved tier of government to boost the region's fortunes.
With four days left to go before the north-east regional assembly referendum closes on Thursday, latest figures unveiled today show that 666,467 or 35% of the area's 1.9 million-strong electorate have already cast their vote.
The Local Futures report, State of the Nation 2005, says the north-east is also the only region in the country to have failed to climb up the European league tables of regional economic performance, it added.
The economic influence and power London wields sweeps across the south-east and the east of England, even creeping across the north-south divide, as far as the Humber, says the report.
But it fails to reach the north-eastern reaches, the report said, leading to some significant differences between its fortunes and those of Yorkshire and the Humber.
The report said: "The north-east as a whole is 'socially excluded' from the rest of England - no wonder it wants a referendum on regional devolution. The deprivation divide that makes England an unfair society is most obvious when we contrast the north-east with the south-east."
'Yes' campaigners for the north-east regional assembly referendum seized on the findings to prove that devolved government could help to give a stronger voice to boost the region.
Professor John Tomaney, chairman of Yes 4 the North East, said: "This referendum is our greatest opportunity to change things, and the result of it will affect the way the north-east is governed for decades to come.
"I would urge anyone who hasn't yet voted to look at what this report is saying and vote Yes for an assembly with a strong voice that will give us a better chance of creating a better future here in the north-east."
But John Elliott, chairman of North East Says No, said devolved government was not the solution to the region's challenges.
"A regional assembly would do nothing to help the north-east and the Yes campaign know it in their hearts," he said.
