[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

I ask this question here, although I probably think that in needs a thread of its own, but I am unsure as to whether the moratorium on political threads has been lifted yet. Could the Forum Team give us an update?

Chris has been running the Election threads - I'll ask him. At the moment though I would think anything regarding electoral reform would still come under the current GE thread, for the moment.

Originally Posted by punky

I'm going by William Hague here who is the only one talking. He said, and I quote:

That makes it quite clear. No referendum. Its either introduce it or no coalition. The public's wishes are meaningless here.

Its the Tories that table the referendum vote, quote:

And goes on to say that the choice lies with the Lib Dems of which there has not been a response yet.

If Hague is being misleading I would have though I would have thought someone would have contradicted him. Noone has so we can take it as truth until we hear otherwise.

Originally Posted by danielf

I don't think that the lack of complaints from the Lib Dem camp should be taken as an endorsement of what Hague said. They are in negotiations, this is not a time where you go and quibble in public about what you may or may not have said behind closed doors.

What Daniel said ^^^

I don't believe the Lib Dems have really been saying much. They've pretty much been keeping quiet while negotiations are ongoing.

I do not believe that Mr Hague was being misleading, but perhaps he was unintentionally not 100% accurate in his phrasing.

The Lib Dems goal is STV (fair for all parties & for *voters*, other PR systems would favour the LDs more than STV, but STV is the best option according to the ERS), not AV. The Tories would never offer STV though, so they have offered the same as Labour: AV. And I hope Clegg & co. consider it to be enough, as I do.

The Lib Dems have made zero mention previously of wanting to force electoral reform without public consultation. They want a referendum. Not just on ER, but on various other things (written constitution, etc.). They also pride themselves on being the most democratic of the three parties, & I cannot see them being in favour of immediate introduction of AV (or another system) without it being approved by the public.

Re. Labour legislating to introduce AV:

Clarification from them - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politi...10/8673807.stm

Mr Hague urged the Lib Dems to accept the Tory deal, arguing that to join with Labour would mean "a second unelected prime minister in a row" and the imposition of voting reform without first consulting the public in a referendum.

This was later denied by Labour sources, who said they would pass a law on AV immediately, but then hold a referendum to allow voters to approve or reject it. There were also unconfirmed reports Labour was offering the prospect of full proportional representation at a later stage.

Originally Posted by danielf

Let me say it once more. Nearly one in four people voted Lib Dems, yet they got less than 10% of the seats. How the hell do you justify that?

I don't see how you can