It's been a long haul, but finally the Government may be forced to listen to calls to scrap the controversial Barnett funding formula. Stuart Arnold reports It is possible to loose count of the hundreds of times this paper has called for the Barnett Formula to be scrapped in its comment columns and on its news pages. Or equally the number of times the Government has "damped down", "stamped down" and "quashed" hopes that it would redraw the formula, which is generally seen as favouring Scotland over poorer English regions such as the North-East. Now, with the setting up of a House of Lords committee in the autumn, which will review the formula and have the power to call evidence from Treasury officials, the tide may have finally turned in favour of those who want rid of it. Equally crucial to developments will be the inclusion...
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