Yes vote on AV: A Dagger at the heart of the Tory party

ELN: According to Labour it is the party of fairness and change. The party calls for a society that puts the interests of the many before the few. In May 2011 we have the opportunity to vote for a fairer voting system.Labour’s manifesto in the 2010 general election included a commitment to a referendum on changing the electoral system to the Alternative Vote (AV). David Cameron wouldn’t have conceded this demand if it wasn’t for the leadership Labour showed on this issue.The Tories are clear they are totally opposed to AV – they don’t want fairer votes. First Past the Post was part of the reason that the 20th Century was dominated by Tory governments. It is little wonder Conservative MPs don’t want change.But First Past the Post (FPTP) isn’t working. When just a few thousand people determine every election result in a few swing seats then the interests of the Labour Party and the people it represents go unheard.Changing the system to AV will mean that the majority get their voices heard; it will shut the door on extremist parties like the BNP.Under AV, every Labour Party member and supporter, in every seat in the country, can cast their vote for Labour and then mark any other preferences knowing their vote won’t be wasted.Under FPTP, the split in the centre-left vote hands seats to the Tories. For example, Labour lost Hendon constituency by just 106 votes to the Tories in 2010. The Green Party candidate polled over 500 votes. Under AV these voters could have transferred their “wasted” votes and influenced the outcome.AV would mean everyone’s vote counts and every MP is required to get the backing of a majority of voters. At present only a third of MPs can say they have received the support of over half their constituents. A reformed system would strengthen the mandate of our MPs.It really is as easy as “1,2,3.”! If people still want to vote with a single X they can. AV doesn’t reinvent the wheel: it keeps the constituency link but gives the system an overdue upgrade. It is a small change that makes a big difference.‘Labour Yes’ published a dossier on 18th April which outlines the extensive political, financial and organisational links between the No to AV camp and the Conservative Party.Leading Tory voices are already describing a Yes vote on AV as a “dagger at the heart of the party”, and “the most destabilising thing for the coalition”.The extent of Tory desperation can be seen from the fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has been doing the media rounds to parrot false allegations about the Yes campaign he knows to be untrue.But the critical question that Labour proponents of a No vote need to answer is, why are David Cameron and the Tories along with their friends in the right-wing press are running so scared of a fairer voting system?Would the full weight of the Conservative Party establishment be deployed to fight against reform if they didn’t see AV as a fundamental threat to their political interests for years to come?99% of NOtoAV’s declared donations come from Tory donors. There are only two exceptions; Peter Hargreaves, a noted supporter of right-wing pressure group The TaxPayers’ Alliance and secondlyThe GMB Union, which donated £10,000
NOtoAV’s donors have given the Conservative Party a total of £28 million and loaned a further £10.6 million to the party.
The figures (or donations rather) depict the reality of the fears of the Tories if a fairer system of voting is introduced through the AV system and that’s labours simple case for saying Yes to AV for a fairer system of voting  because it is the party of fairness and change.