Labour now against voting reform - what a U-turn!!
September 6, 2010 1:52 PM
Today, the House of Commons will begin to debate LibDem proposals to reform the voting system, and to equalise our parliamentary constituencies.
Whilst the two coalition parties have different views on the future of our voting system both recognise that there are genuine concerns about the current system. Both parties are agreed that the decision is not for government alone, it should be taken by the people themselves.That is why the Coalition is putting this question to a referendum next May, just one example of the power shift we are determined to deliver. Fixing parliament also means tackling the unfairness in the geography of MPs' constituencies by making sure votes count equally wherever they are cast. And we are also cutting the number of MPs to 600.
This won't just cut the cost of politics. A smaller, hard working House of Commons, is part of redistributing power away from the centre to local people. This is precisely the sort of modernisation our Parliament needs - and Labour MPs know it.
Yet tonight, Labour MPs will troop through division lobbies voting against a referendum on voting reform - a referendum they promised in their manifesto. Labour now seems to be about opposition, opposition, opposition. In the end, opposition for opposition's sake gets you nowhere.
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