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February 14, 2008
More misrepresentation of the review
The Independent's John Rentoul wrote Sunday on the groundwork being laid by the parties in preparation for a likely hung parliament after the next election. Late in his piece, Rentoul say that "In any case, neither Labour nor the Tories are likely to offer the Lib Dems the starting price for any deal, namely electoral reform." As evidence that neither party will offer this, Rentoul cites the review of voting systems, saying:
Hardly noticed two weeks ago was the publication of a Government review of voting systems in the UK, which concluded that the present system for the House of Commons should not change. It left open the possibility of looking at the issue again when House of Lords reform is completed. That is, on the 12th of Never.
Rentoul's statement is half wrong and half right. Since it came out weeks ago, we at MVC have stressed that the review did NOT conclude that the present system for the House of Commons should not change. Rather, the review presented the benefits and flaws of several different voting systems, but never did it actually make a conclusion stating one would work better to elect MPs than any other. However, Rentoul is right that our government refuses to truly consider electoral reform and the benefits it would bring to this country's politics(case in point being the government spin press release on the review saying that no voting system change was needed.)
Posted by joshloewenstein on February 14, 2008
