First past the post is a politician’s fix

A great many political careerists want you to vote no. They want you to vote no because under AV they would have to appeal to the majority not pander to the biggest special interests group like they do under FPTP. Under FPTP you don’t even have to win a substantive majority to be the winner. We used to use a AV system but it was replaced by with FPTP by politicians for politicians. AV breaks the cycle of voting for two monolithic parties and allows different ideas to have a chance rather than the same old situation off I like C’s ideas but I won’t vote for them because they can’t win so I will vote for A because I hate B. Even though what A proposes is the same as B.

self entitled careerist labour MP, Unelected government minister and the BNP all oppose democracy.

As the Yes and No Campaigns about the referendum on AV hot up the no campaign have been more than a little dishonest. As an example Baroness Warsi has claimed that BNP would be boosted by AV. This is completely untrue as it may increase their votes slightly but popular parties would have an even greater increase and as you need a real majority to get elected it would mean significant losses in the European elections (a spring board for all extremist parties) for the BNP and other extremists. The BNP’s official position on AV is “The AV system is obviously a sleight of hand which is directed against the BNP and is not aimed at improving democracy in Britain. Rather, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg’s sudden conversion to AV are an indication that they have now fully comprehended the meaning of the BNP’s surge in vote totals in last week’s election — and are desperate to undermine democracy even “The AV system is obviously a sleight of hand which is directed against the BNP and is not aimed at improving democracy in Britain. Rather, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg’s sudden conversion to AV are an indication that they have now fully comprehended the meaning of the BNP’s surge in vote totals in last week’s election — and are desperate to undermine democracy even further.” IT is the last paragraph in the article.
When a self entitled careerist labour MP, authoritarian racists like the BNP and unelected Cabinet minister’s team up to say no to AV then you can be sure that AV is something that improves democracy making it harder for the extreme the corrupt and the undemocratic to gain power.
I am linking to a significant no to AV site. They have promised to provide a reason for no every week. As they do not allow comments, which is no surprise for an anti democracy site, I will be providing a response every week to them. There first that i am aware of was repeating Baroness Warsi’s fear mongering and outright lie that AV would benefit the BNP which has been answered in this post by pointing out the BNP oppose AV as it doesn’t benefit them.

Labour MP opposes Democracy wants to keep small parties small.

Labour MP and Shadow Cabinet member Caroline Flint has decided to oppose her newly elected leader Ed Milliband and launch an unofficial labour no campaign to AV. Most telling is her comments at 0:55 in this video from the BBC “It’s about not allowing fringe parties to have more a say in our elections and i think that is very important” That is disturbing and Sounds like someone does not want small minority parties to ever have the chance of growing without one of the big two collapsing. We nearly have effectively a two party system like in the USA and ultimately that results in a complete lack of ideas resulting in malaise and apathy. Then you end up with the situation where personality counts more than policy. We are not far off from presidential style elections where it is all about making the other person look bad.
Caroline Flint has a history of opposing democratic and open governance. After the expenses scandal she was one off 98 MPS who voted in favour of legislation that would have kept MP’s expenses secret truly disgraceful. Caroline Flint would appear to a classic example of the self entitled careerist who we need to remove from parliament
The AV system is far from perfect but is a damn site better than the current situation.
According to a YouGov poll yes to AV is slightly ahead of no by 37% to 32%. 24% are unsure how they will and 7% saying they will not vote in the referendum. Expect these figures to change as we get closer and more people learn what AV is and change their mind or make their minds up. If you are unsure what AV is and what you will be voting for here is a guide.

Alternative vote referendum

In two months time there will be a referendum on new voting systems. You can find out what is being voted for here and how the parties stand here.

Which way are you going to vote? I’m in favour as a step towards stronger democracy. Altough we need a non of the above option as well.