This distracting AV referendum damages our politics further

By Jamie Reed MP / @jreedmp

As we enter the final days of the AV referendum campaign I have a confession to make: I can stand it no more. As a supporter of AV I have never believed that the referendum (which I support in principle) should have been held against a backdrop of economic turmoil and political disenchantment. Not only does this prejudice (if not actually ruin) the prospects of a successful ‘yes’ campaign, it actually feeds the growing anti-politics culture at large in our country – a culture which ultimately, only benefits conservatism.

Right now, in the midst of economic crisis, mass unemployment, global confusion and the incessant threat of war, to spend millions of pounds of public money on any referendum, let alone one as ephemeral to the concerns of most ordinary people, should have been resisted. That it has not been only serves to highlight the distance between the public and our political classes. Worse, it suggests that this distance might be increasing.

Ed Miliband and Labour are blameless in this. We didn’t pick the time and we didn’t turn Nick Clegg into box-office poison; the Deputy Prime Minister did that all by himself. The problems now facing us as a nation have intensified since the general election but were apparent at the time the coalition agreement was drawn up and the timing of the referendum decided upon. Quite how the Lib Dem cabal involved in the agreement was beguiled into agreeing an early AV referendum against a backdrop which was always going to clearly work against a ‘yes’ vote is anyone’s guess. Perhaps a collective ‘stockholm syndrome’ took hold very quickly, perhaps it was the consequence of infatuation , perhaps their inexperience was simply exploited. In any event, an unsuccessful AV ‘yes’ campaign will be the fault of that Lib Dem cabal – and not its rank and file MPs and activists with whom Labour needs to make common cause.

Why is the referendum at this time such a self-defeating conceit? Let’s get real for a minute and look at this from the perspective of the millions of Britons who have either been made unemployed or who’s jobs are under threat. Those who, if they can find work, now have to work longer for their pension. Those whose partner’s job is also under threat and who are losing benefits for their families and their children. There are less police on the streets; they can see their local hospital suffering as a result of the Tory Health Bill and the men and women they have entrusted to protect their interests are comparing each other to nazis as part of a referendum campaign on voting reform. True Progressives should weep at the way in which this chance for change has been squandered, but more importantly, resolve never to lose sight of the public’s priorities in a time of crisis. Bad for politics, bad for the country, the decision to hold the AV referendum at this time has done nothing to rehabilitate politicians in the eyes of the public.

Nick Clegg’s magic beans look like yielding a bitter harvest which will be shared by every poitical party whatever the result.