Seriously though, we had the chance of a type of devolution in 2000 (not much, but it would have started us in the right direction), but we turned it down.
This devolution would have been wrong for the region - It was to be imposed from Westminster with their pre-conditions - Not even sure whether Prescott new the full implications of what was being proposed. What the region (and other UK regions) needs is full federalism which will personalise political and fiscal policies which best suits the region as autonomous from Westminster. Germany are quite successful in this regard, which has benefited the whole country.