NO to AV – Letting people make up their own minds

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By Jane Kennedy

Yesterday, NO to AV – the cross-party, non-partisan campaign against the Alternative Vote at the referendum in May – announced our nationwide series of town hall debates (see below for a full list of venues).

A day earlier, Jonathan Bartley – a former aide to John Major and now spokesman for the Yes to AV campaign – had written a letter, which was little more than a sneering attack upon Margaret Beckett and another example of the tone which the so-called “Yes to Fairer Votes” campaign is now adopting.

While he has been apparently scouring the media, with patronising pen poised, we have been quietly organising venues, speakers and media partners for these Town Hall debates.

The aim of the debates is to bring the case for and against AV directly to the people to enable them to make up their own minds. The full list of towns and cities and the dates on which the debates will be happening are printed below. They will be free and fair, chaired by an independent local figure and we are inviting the Yes to AV campaign to attend and put their case.

This activity is in stark contrast to the work of Mr Bartley and his colleagues.

When he says to Margaret Beckett, “when did your opinion of the British people’s intelligence sink so low?” and “we will, of course, give you the time to try to come up with a logical and coherent argument” he is attacking a woman who has been a loyal public servant for over thirty eight years, a respected Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, she has been a champion of the Labour Party and is held in high esteem within the party. These sneering comments are reminiscent of the tactics of the Liberal Democrats and are part of an on-going attack upon the Labour politicians who have stood up and said that they believe that changing our voting system to AV is not a worthwhile reform.

Mr Bartley says he wants clarity and honesty. His campaign doesn’t even have AV in its name. I send back a challenge – send people from your campaign to each of the debates below. Let the British people make up their own minds, instead of lecturing and hectoring them.

And just for a change, instead of Jonathan Bartley, why not put up some real Liberal Democrats to make the case? It is they who will be the ‘kingmakers‘ in every hung parliament brought about by a shift to AV. Surely it is only right that it is the Lib Dems who explain the advantages of their proposed system?

Jane Kennedy is former Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree and National Organiser of Labour NO to AV

The full list of dates and cities in which the debates will be taking place is as follows:

Thurs

17

Feb

Sheffield

Sat

19

Feb

Birmingham

Thurs

24

Feb

Leeds

Sat

26

Feb

Nottingham

Wed

2

Mar

London Stratford

Fri

4

Mar

Glasgow

Sat

5

Mar

Bristol

Wed

9

Mar

London Brent

Thurs

10

Mar

Reading

Fri

11

Mar

Chelmsford

Sat

12

Mar

Manchester

Thurs

17

Mar

Plymouth

Fri

18

Mar

Bournemouth

Thurs

24

Mar

Newcastle

Fri

25

Mar

Ipswich

Tues

29

Mar

London Croydon

Thurs

31

Mar

Cardiff

TBC

Belfast

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