THE Scottish Parliament has just spent £80,000 on a desk for its reception area. Normally this little titbit from the Sunday papers would pass us by with a grunt or a sneer, but it seems somewhat apt to raise the issue as the question of a regional assembly rears its ugly head once more.

Soundings are being taken to decide in which regions there is sufficient interest in the concept to start the process. The prospect should fill Craven with dread.

The Government has already made it clear that the Parliament will not be a third tier of local Government and North Yorkshire County Council will be axed.

Under a regional assembly Craven will be very small beer indeed. Our population will be allocated less than half a representative on the Yorkshire and Humberside Parliament.

Doubtless Craven's man or woman will be the member for Harrogate and Craven. He or she will then attempt to battle for Craven's cause against the conflicting demands of urban areas, the likes of Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and Hull. Who will win?

When it comes to dividing up the cake, there will be nothing left when the silly, expensive initiatives of the metropolitan areas have been gorged. There will be little time, less energy and even less inclination to sort out the particular problems of the small, rural communities of North Yorkshire.

The members of the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments are already demanding salaries equivalent to the Westminster MPs and making grandiose gestures of their importance, like the aforementioned desk.

Hands up all those who think Yorkshire parliamentarians will be far more careful with the public purse?

Our county council at North Yorkshire is not perfect, but is a far better guardian of our community and its traditions than a regional parliament could ever be.

The sounding exercise proposed by the Government is due to end on March 3. The sound it hears from Craven is of one giant raspberry.