Voting reform: Cameron warns UK against 'sleepwalking into AV'

Published on Monday 18 April 2011 15:36

DAVID Cameron today urged voters not to "sleepwalk" into a change of voting system for Westminster elections which would damage Britain's democracy.

With less than three weeks to the May 5 referendum on adopting the alternative vote (AV) system for parliamentary elections, the Prime Minister acknowledged that millions of voters had yet to engage with the issue.

His comments came as Labour leader Ed Miliband accused the No campaign of spreading "groundless fears" that AV would lead to the rise of extremist parties like the British National Party.

The two leaders were fronting rival No and Yes events as they attempted to inject new life into a campaign that could have important consequences for all three major political parties.

Mr Cameron said that AV was "obscure, unfair and expensive" and could mean that "people who come third in elections will end up winning".

"I think that is unfair and wrong and flies in the face of centuries of our history," he said.

However, he said that with millions of voters showing interest in the issue, there was a risk that the Yes campaign could win by default.

"The biggest danger right now is that Britain sleepwalks into this second rate system, waking up on May 6 with a voting system that damages our democracy," he said.

Mr Cameron sought to distance himself from the No campaign attacks on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

"I don't run the No campaign, I run the Conservative No campaign," he said. "I certainly don't condone any personal attacks on anyone in this campaign."

However, appearing on the platform alongside him, the former Labour home secretary Lord Reid accused the Liberal Democrats for pushing for AV out of "narrow self-interest".

"It would not only be wrong but it would be an outrage to try and secure a change in the electoral system for tactical party advantage by usurping the right of all of our citizens to an equal vote.

"There is, I have to say, a growing and well-founded suspicion that that is exactly, at least part of the aims of the Yes campaign and I include in that the leadership of the Lib Dems."

He also warned of the dangers if the Government tried to push through a major constitutional change of "a very, very low turnout" in the referendum.

"That would I think have longer lasting consequences than just the result itself," he said.

Meanwhile Mr Miliband, who was also appearing on a cross-party platform, urged voters not to use the referendum as an opportunity to give Mr Clegg a "kicking".

"The chance to send a message to this Conservative-led Government lies in the elections that are taking place in English local government, in Scotland and Wales," he said.

"This referendum is not about Nick Clegg, it's not about David Cameron, it's not about me. It is a chance to have a better politics in Britain."