MPs approve Gordon Brown's referendum plans for voting reform

The Prime Minister's plans for a referendum were easily passed
12 April 2012

Gordon Brown's plans for a referendum on changing the voting system were comfortably passed by MPs.

Despite strong opposition from the Tories and some Labour backbenchers, the Commons voted 365 to 187 to ask the British public whether first-past-the-post should be scrapped in the biggest shake up of the electoral system in generations.

However, the Government still faces an uphill battle to write the commitment into law, with the prospect of stiff resistance in the House of Lords and time running out before the general election.

The Prime Minister's proposal would give people the choice of adopting the Alternative Vote (AV), where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Critics accused Mr Brown - who had previously been regarded as a staunch opponent of electoral reform - of a cynical bid to win the support of Lib Dem MPs in the event of a hung parliament.

With the public finances in turmoil, there were also complaints about the estimated £80 million cost of the plebiscite - which would have to take place by October next year.

The plans were tabled by Justice Secretary Jack Straw as amendments to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill.

He told MPs the expenses scandal had led to a "crisis of confidence in our political system and in our politicians on a scale which none of us have witnessed in our political lifetime".

"This is an important debate," he insisted. "This subject is a fundamental plank of our democracy and it comes at a time when this House is held in dangerously low regard.

"The alternative vote takes on the considerable strengths of our system and I suggest builds on it.

"We propose a referendum because we believe it is not for us to decide, but it is important the people should have that choice."

But shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said he felt "truly sorry" for Mr Straw for having to present Mr Brown's ideas to Parliament.

"The Secretary of State was fighting, I think, a rearguard action against the Prime Minister, who was both losing the plot and was taking leave of his political sense in a desperate bid to stay in office," he said.

He expressed his backing for first-past-the post, saying it "delivers clear, clean results".

Former Cabinet minister John Gummer said it was a "scandal" MPs were being asked to approve around £80 million to pay for the referendum at a time when all parties were discussing cuts to deal with the state of Britain's finances.

He accused Mr Brown of putting "his own future before that of this nation".

Fellow Tory former Cabinet minister, Douglas Hogg, dismissed the premier's move as "an act of pure political cynicism".

Ex minister Frank Field was among those in the Labour ranks expressing unhappiness at the prospect.

The Birkenhead MP branded AV "illogical", speaking in favour of the French system where the top two candidates take part in a run-off if neither achieves 50% support in the initial ballot.

Another former minister, Tom Harris, raised laugher by asking Mr Straw: "Do you attribute the stainless reputation of Italian politicians to the fact that they have proportional representation?"

Mr Straw responded that AV was not proportional representation.

Liberal Democrat spokesman David Howarth mocked Mr Brown's "deathbed conversion" on the issue of electoral reform.

The party wanted to see the more radical single-transferable vote (STV) as a referendum option but AV was "a small gain but a gain worth having", he said.

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