Sniping within the yes camp will allow no-campaigners to present themselves as the anti-politics movement
Ed Miliband is probably less upset than one might imagine at the fact that 150 of his party's parliamentarians think he is wrong about the merits of the alternative vote. He may not mind that a member of his shadow cabinet thinks the system "perverse" or that Margaret Beckett, heading the no campaign, was dismissive of the reform championed by her leader, when interviewed yesterday. It suits Mr Miliband now for Labour to be both for and against a new voting system: "We tried, but the country just didn't want it," he can say if the vote is lost ? and then blame toxic Nick Clegg.
If this sounds like the partisan old politics that reformers are supposed to be against, then so did the Lib Dems' squabble with Labour about whether and how the two parties' leaders should campaign together. An event this week at which they were both supposed to appear was cancelled amid jockeying between the parties. That dispute has been settled and another event later this month has been scheduled. Last night Mr Miliband launched the Labour Yes to AV campaign. But he is yet to show that his heart is really in this battle. There is talk that the local election campaign will be his party's priority.
This is understandable, but wrong. Labour finds the Lib Dems toxic at the moment, as do many voters, but the prize of a more pluralistic politics needs both a yes vote in May and the possibility of civil relations between Labour and some Lib Dems at some point in the future. Sniping within the yes camp will allow no-campaigners to present themselves as the anti-politics movement, fighting establishment parties out to secure their own advantage. A half-hearted campaign from those inside Labour who want the referendum to be won will also make the chances of victory smaller.
The party should not and anyway could not pretend to be united on the issue. More Labour MPs appear to oppose AV than support it in public. Nor, since there is no official Labour position, can the party be expected to use its resources to campaign for or against a yes. But Mr Miliband is right to want change. He sees the great prize for his party of breaking monolithic first-past-the-post elections ? even if he is also right to say AV is a far from perfect reform.
It will be tempting, over the next few weeks, for his party to focus its fire on the unpopular Lib Dems in order to secure new council seats as a route back to national power. Cavorting with Mr Clegg at the same time might be thought to make that harder. But in a decade's time, if it is won, it is the AV referendum and not the local elections that will be remembered. The chance is there. It would be a shame if the pride of two parties got in the way of success.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/17/av-referendum-stop-squabbling-win
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