Britain ‘sleepwalking’ into AV
By Ian Dunt
David Cameron has warned that Britain is “sleepwalking” into voting for AV, in a sign of increased concerns at Tory HQ that the ‘yes’ camp will clinch the deal.
The prime minister seems intent to take on a more prominent role in the campaign, despite plans for him and Nick Clegg to take a backseat in the interests of coalition unity.
“The danger is Britain sleepwalking into a ‘yes’ vote,” he told the Daily Mail.
“At the moment it’s close. I don’t want us sleepwalking into a voting system that will make our democracy less strong.
“I’m going to have more work to do to make it a real wake-up call, to say ‘this matters, please do consider the arguments and go out and vote’.”
The prime minister’s comments come on the day that the ‘yes’ camp unveil a series of posters designed to promote the campaign.
Young people are the group most likely to vote for change while older people are most likely to want to stick with first-past-the-post.
That variable has prompted the ‘yes’ camp to stick to a celebrity-dominated campaign, with Colin Firth and Eddie Izzard taking a leading role. The ‘no’ camp, meanwhile, has relied on political heavyweights, predominantly in the form of former ministers.
But both camps have become embroiled in a controversy over the last few days.
No to AV came under fire for suggesting a vote for AV was a vote for the BNP, despite the fact that the far-right party actually supports them.
Yes to AV were widely criticised for replacing black poet Benjamin Zephaniah with Blackadder star Tony Robinson in mailshots outside of London.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP for Warrington South David Mowat looks set to become the first Tory parliamentarian to come out in support of electoral reform.
“I think the existing system tends to benefit the Labour party,” he told the Liverpool Daily Post.
“If we did have AV, and we put Lib Dems second and they put us second, it would be very likely to give us a better result than we might achieve under first past the post.”
