Given that the proposal to introduce regional parliaments throughout England represents a major constitutional change, it is significant that there have so far been only about 6,000 representations made about it to the office of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Only around 600 of those have come from the Yorkshire region, a minuscule proportion of the population.

The outcome of this consultation will decide if there are referenda to discover whether or not the regions - including Yorkshire - should have their own parliaments. Given the number who have so far bothered to make their views known, any conclusions drawn from this exercise can hardly be said to reflect the opinion of the general population.

Even if half of those who contacted Mr Prescott's office did so to voice their support for a Yorkshire Parliament, it is a long way from being described as a clamour. There is clearly a huge amount of apathy about this idea, which would add a costly additional layer of bureaucracy to a country which is already overburdened with it.

If the Government seriously wants to devolve power, it could do as Bradford Council leader Margaret Eaton suggests and strengthen the clout of local authorities which are closer to their voters than some remote regional assembly.

Judging by the lack of interest so far, a referendum on this issue in Yorkshire would be a waste of time and money. The consultation period does not end until Friday. There is still time to contact Mr Prescott's office and urge him to forget it.