EASTWOOD MP Allan Stewart demonstrated that the best defence is a good

offence last night, in a vigorous attack on Labour's devolution plans

before Tory loyalists in the heart of Mr Tony Blair's English

constituency.

Mr Stewart, who resigned on Tuesday after an incident with motorway

protesters, confounded expectations by keeping a long-standing

engagement to address the Conservative branch in Sedgefield, County

Durham.

He even managed to make light of his sudden departure from Government.

He told them he had been worried that Sedgefield's Conservatives might

not have heard of him. ''I asked myself if there was anything I could do

to get my public profile up? I hope you agree I have succeeded in doing

that.''

He had come to England to take on Labour and the party's proposals for

constitutional reform. That he chose to do so in Mr Blair's safe

constituency was, he admitted, a bit of mischief. Devolution for

Scotland, Wales, and England is a ''con trick'', he said, based on

political opportunism. Labour has not thought out its plans or solved

fundamental problems, such as the West Lothian question.

''Why should England have 72 Scottish MPs voting on laws about schools

in Sedgefield but not St Andrews; 72 Scottish MPs deciding on housing

for Durham but not Dundee?'' he said.

He told the audience of about 50 mostly elderly Tory supporters that

Labour has not thought through its proposals. ''They do not derive from

genuine belief but from political opportunism. They are unworkable.''

He added: ''They are offering people in England wholly undefined

assemblies that people simply do not want. Frankly, these proposals have

all the appearance of being written on the back of an exceedingly small

envelope.''

In an open letter to Mr Stewart published yesterday, the cross party

Campaign for a Northern Assembly challenged him to explain why quangoes

and civil servants running services in the North-east should not be

subject to democratic control.

The letter asked: ''Do you believe that your party, with its

percentage share of the vote in the northern region at the last General

Election, legitimately represents the views of the northern

electorate?''

More than 50% of the region's electorate voted Labour in the last

General Election.

Councillor Eric Roberts, chairman of the Sedgefield Conservative

Constituency Association, said: ''If people are talking about the

Government's performance in this region then devolution would be bottom

of the list. We just don't see it happening.''