There was a similar message from Professor Charlie Jefferey, an advisor to then deputy prime minister John Prescott in the run up to the 2004 referendum in the North-East of England.
BBC: RELATED BBC SITES
2.
Voters had rejected the idea because they failed to identify with the "regional unit put before them" and because ministers refused to give up "significant powers" to the proposed new body, Professor Jefferey told MPs.