Liberal Conspiracy » Labour abandons plans to ditch FPTP voting

The Indy reports:

Moves to stage a referendum on scrapping the first-past-the-post electoral system have been abandoned as the parties wrangle over legislation to be rushed into law ahead of the general election.

The Government has also dropped proposals to phase out the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords.
…
The Government yesterday said it had given up hope of pressing ahead with measures to hold a referendum on whether to move from “first-past-the-post” to the “alternative vote” system under which voters list candidates in their order of preference. Tory frontbenchers in the Lords had criticised the plans, set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill.

It was always going to be too good to be true wasn’t it.

According to Vote for a Change, Conservatives were reported to have refused offers of a sunset clause, and were prepared to adopt a ‘scorched earth policy’ vetoing the whole CRAG bill if the referendum wasn’t dropped.

Willie Sullivan, head of the Vote for a Change campaign said in a statement last night: “In Wash Up and armed with a veto not granted them by any voter, the Conservatives have killed reform of the voting system and reform of the House of Lords. Cameron’s message is clear. And it isn’t change.”

via liberalconspiracy.org

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