The leaflet the Tories don’t want you to read
Labour YES has today published a new campaign leaflet which shows that the only winners from a NO vote on May 5th will be David Cameron and the Tories.
The twentieth century was dominated by majority Conservative governments because First Past the Post enabled them to split the progressive vote. Tory backbenchers and the right-wing press have been expressing their unease at the prospect of the public voting to change the system. They have described the Alternative Vote as “a dagger at the heart” of the Conservative Party, “the most destabilising thing for the coalition” and having the power to leave Cameron looking like a “lost leader”.
By contrast, the leaflet shows Labour leading the fight for a fairer system that empowers voters and makes MPs reach out to win broader support in their communities. With contributions from Labour leader Ed Miliband - along with his brother David, along with Tessa Jowell, Oona King, David Lammy, Ken Livingstone, and Tony Robinson – the leaflet sets out the case for reinforcing Labour’s positive message on the doorstep with a Yes vote in the referendum.
We’re still going with the fantasy that there’s a ‘progressive coalition’ that is somehow split, then? Between whom is the progressive vote split at the moment?
I see from today’s polling that Lib Dem voters are more likely to use AV to help the Tories get back in, and vice versa. That means AV risks making Cameron not a lost leader, but keeping Cameron and Clegg in power for a generation.
http://s.coop/channel4poll - “Tories have nothing to fear from AV”
http://bit.ly/gmtwSH - “YouGov poll kills off Labour’s no brainer case to campaign for AV”
The Tories’ apparent belief that they can only win against a divided opposition betrays a curious lack of confidence - and ignorance of history - on their part. In the ’50s the Tories managed to win several elections even though the non-Tory vote was entirely united. Of course, that was in the heyday of Harold Macmillan, who was a very different kettle of fish from today’s Tory toffs - and might even be said to have been to the left of Mr Blair…
It is debatable whether “the only winners from a NO vote on May 5th will be David Cameron and the Tories.” http://www.channel4.com/news/tories-have-nothing-to-fear-from-av
[...] Yes campaign have also released a leaflet today ahead of next month’s referendum, entitled “The leaflet the Tories don?t want you to read”. As well as attacks on Cameron, it features Ed Miliband and other major party [...]