Labour Yes

We’ll be live blogging the launch of Labour Yes from 1800GMT. Earlier today we released a video of senior Labour figures giving their support to a Yes vote in the May referendum.

• Live updates beginning at 1800GMT.
• Our speakers today are, Ben Bradshaw, Susan Nash, Ed Miliband, Alan Johnson, Tony Robinson, Ken Livingstone, Neil Kinnock and Oona King.
• Jackie Ashley from The Guardian is giving the opening remarks and introducing today’s speakers.
• Ben Bradshaw: “No voting system is perfect. But what unites people in the room tonight is that First Past the Post is the worst of the lot.”
• “AV would mean that everybody’s votes counts and make MPs more accountable”
• Ben Bradshaw believes AV Yes vote won’t give Clegg a bloody nose but will give Cameron one.
• “It is the Tories that are most worried about a Yes vote in the May referendum”
• Susan Nash is now on stage giving an address.
• Nash: “Time to give voters a fairer chance”
• “More young people are showing to support the yes campaign”
• “This referendum is wider than one man, this referendum is not about Nick Clegg”
• Alan Johnson is now giving an address.
• Johnson: Don’t know any trade unions that doesn’t elect their leader using any other system than AV
• “I support AV because it empowers the voters and strengthens the constituency link”
• “British people if given the chance to vote will put FPTP where it belongs, on the race track”
• Ed Miliband now giving an address
• “I want to explain how AV will help us build fairer and better politics”
• “political system at Westminster has been stuck in neutral for far too long.”
• “it is right that our focus as a party is the local, Scottish and Welsh elections.”
• Ed Miliband outlines three reasons why we need political reform, in particular the Alternative vote. Politics needs repairing, AV is better and fairer and will improve the way politics is conducted.
• AV “will make votes count”
• Ed Miliband outlines why the Tories want a no vote in May saying that they “fear a progressive majority that doesn’t share their values.”
• Ed Miliband outlines how AV will not create more hung parliaments and is patronising to argue that putting 1, 2, 3 in boxes is too complicated for the electorate.
• “we can’t reduce the second UK wide referendum in our political history to a verdict on one man.”
• Ed Miliband let’s say: “Yes to change, Yes to a challenge to the status quo, Yes to a system where more voices are heard and more votes are counted. Yes to AV.”
• Tony Robinson now giving an address.
• “AV type system used all over the world without confusion”
• “All we need to do is tattoo KISS on the inside our of heads; Keep It Simple Stupid.”
• London Mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone giving an address.
• Livingstone: “AV maybe not what I want as my first choice. But we will never see PR without taking this first step”
• “Why be mean to the monkey, when you can really upset the organ grinder”
• Oona King says, “AV will make votes fairer”
• AV is a once in a generation change.
• Critical step to break free of the Daily Mail agenda
• “We want accountability and we want progress. If we blink now it could be years before we have the chance again”
• “Don’t support the Yes campaign half heartedly. Support it with all your heart. We must win this campaign if we are to have progress in the UK.”
• Lord Kinnock is giving an address.
• Neil Kinnock takes the stage to bust open the AV myths saying there is no evidence to suggest it will cost £250 million. Australia counts elections using “a pencil and paper”.
• The panel consisting of Neil Kinnock, Susan Nash, Tony Robinson, Ken Livingstone and Oona King now taking some questions from the audience.
• Ken Livingstone says talk to friends, colleagues and neighbours to spread the word about the AV referendum.
• Susan Nash says student unions are a great place to have AV debates. Students are a core support group and can offer time during the day when others can’t.
• The Labour Yes launch event has now concluded.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Labour Yes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.