Miserable little compromises

He savaged his successor Nick Clegg today for throwing his party's weight behind the alternative vote (AV) system, which the Lib Dem leader had denounced before the general election as a "miserable little compromise."

The newly ennobled Lord has clearly got his ermine knickers in a twist and no mistake.

But it's not his attack on the unprincipled opportunists of the Lib Dem leadership that has won our agreement, but his assault on the Tory "gerrymandering."

Because, tucked in with the AV referendum, was a far more significant measure, the impending changes to the constitution of the House of Commons, cutting back the number of MPs by 50 using boundary changes to equalise the size of constituencies.

This was also accompanied by an adjustment of the aready announced intention of the Con-Dem coalition to raise the threshold at which the House of Commons can force the dissolution of Parliament from a single-vote majority to 55 per cent.

The latter measure caused no little controversy when it was originally announced and was denounced across the board as a restriction on the democratic rights of Parliament.

In true Tory fashion, the government clearly noticed this controversy and has now responded to it.

But, instead of withdrawing the measure in deference to the strength of the arguments, the coalition instead has gone even further and upped the figure from 55 per cent to 66 per cent, in the process raising two true-blue fingers to the voices of dissent.

As we have said previously, this government seems intent not only to get its own way but to do it in the most arrogant and provocative manner possible.

But, back to Mr Prescott. His description of the boundary changes and the way in which they are to be constructed as "cover for the biggest gerrymandering of seats that I have ever seen in my 40 years in politics," was accurate and precise.

The Tories have grasped the opportunity to fiddle the voting profile of this country in such a way as to diminish the importance of Labour's hold on the inner cities and rebalance the ballot profile of the country to enhance the chances of the Tories in seats where they were hitherto weak.

Also, under the proposed Bill, Parliament would be dissolved and an election held if no government could be formed within 14 days of a simple majority vote of no confidence.

But, rather than a concession, this is a vision of a Tory-led coalition dissolving and then reforming around another unprincipled alliance in 14 days.

And dissolution could only be effected by a two-thirds majority in Parliament - an almost impossible target for any opposition.

It appears that if the Tories can't win an outright victory in the polls one way, they will ensure it in another.

And they have done it with the help of the snivelling Lib Dem opportunists, for no better price than holding a referendum on AV which they have already told the Lib Dems that they will oppose.

One would have thought that, if the Lib Dems were going to sell out their voters and members, at least they could have got a higher price than these 20 pieces of valueless white metal.

The bare-faced gerrymandering to reduce the number of Labour seats, coupled with the provisions on dissolution, sets the scene for an endless stream of Tory-led coalitions held together by no more than personal ambition and a willingness to sacrifice principle in the cause of expediency.

It sounds like, and is, a perfect recipe for continuous Tory control under the guise of coalition. It may suit them, but it's yet another attack on democracy and people's rights and it must be fought to a standstill.