The quid pro quo for Tories accepting the AV system is to wrap it up with a package which will cut the number of Parliamentary constituencies. Nick Clegg was full of wind and self-righteousnes when he commended it to the Commons yesterday.
Every Member of this House was elected knowing that this Parliament must be unlike any other-that we have a unique duty to restore the trust in our political system that has been tested to its limits in recent times-and if anything was clear at the general election it was that more and more people realised that our political system was broken and needs to be fixed. They want us to clean up politics. They want to be able to hold us properly to account. So the Government have set out an ambitious programme for political renewal, transferring power away from the Executive to empower Parliament, and away from Parliament to empower people.
As I explained yesterday, AV is a system no one – including Mr Clegg – believes in because in landslide elections it will mean the winning party’s seat total is even greater than under first-past-the-post, and the chances of powerful governments meeting strong opposition will diminish accordingly. But what about cutting the number of constituencies?
Carry on reading
Nick Cohen
