Margaret Beckett: your ignorance is showing #yes2av #no2av
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Margaret Beckett is now the President of the No to AV campaign. Joining her as 'patrons' in this honourable fight? From the Labour side we have David Blunkett, Lord Falconer, Lord Prescott, Lord Reid and Emily Thornberry and from the Conservative side Ken Clarke, Baroness Warsi and William Hague.
While the current political narrative is filled with electric attacks about turncoats, traitors and breaking manifesto pledges, let us remind ourselves of the May 2010 Labour manifesto, A future fair for all(except the Liberal Democrats) on page 61:
But it doesn't stop there. Margaret, a former Labour Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Leader of the Labour party said, on her appointment as No2AV President:
Below are three reasons why her statement is flawed.
1) Fiji is under a military dictatorship
You would expect a former Foreign Secretary to know that Fiji not only no longer votes, but is currently rewriting their Constitution because... there was a military coup in 2006. This just happens to be the same year Margaret Beckett was appointed Foreign Secretary – perhaps she misspoke.
The official advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is:
The current debate surrounding the form of preferential voting used in Fiji, arose because candidates who are knocked out at each round get to choose who to transfer their votes to, as opposed to AV where voters rank the candidates in the order THEY want and their votes are then transferred in that order.
2) Turnout in Australian elections, prior to AV, fluctuated and in the two elections preceding, was not at their lowest level
Margaret Beckett states that in Australia, AV led to a significant drop in turnout and that is why they had to introduce compulsory voting. This is the timeline of events (taken from the Australian Electoral Commission in two sources - source one, source two):
1901 - first elections under the new Commonwealth using First Past the Post, turnout = 57%
1902 - Women given the right to vote
1903 - turnout = 50%
1906 - turnout = 51%
1910 - turnout = 63%
1913 - turnout = 73%
1914 - turnout = 73%
1915 - consideration given to compulsory voting, but the proposed referendum did not take place
1915 - compulsory voting introduced in the State of Queensland
1917 - turnout = 78%
1918 - AV introduced in Australian Federal elections
1919 - turnout = 71%
1922 - turnout = 60%
1924 - voting made compulsory
1925 - turnout, as one would expect, rises to 91%
As you can see the correlation between turnout and voting system used varies wildly - with the suggestion of compulsory voting being mooted before the change in voting system. Arguing that AV led to a drop in turnout, based on the stats, is like arguing giving women the right to vote did the same thing.
What she also forgets to state is that of the 30 other countries who have compulsory voting, none use AV, so her argument on both counts lacks comparative substance.
3) Labour uses AV for leadership elections
Margaret Beckett states that AV stands in the way of democracy. AV is used to elect Labour Party Leaders and Deputy Leaders (of which she was one), is this a coded attack on Ed Miliband? Is she calling Australia undemocratic?
In a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party in July 2010 on the future of the Shadow Cabinet, AV was suggested as the system to use to vote on the various options put forward. The author of this letter? One Margaret Beckett...
It seems the No2AV camp have once again demonstrated they have no more straws left to clutch and are now only interested in maintaining the Labour vs. Tory dichotomy.
While the current political narrative is filled with electric attacks about turncoats, traitors and breaking manifesto pledges, let us remind ourselves of the May 2010 Labour manifesto, A future fair for all
To ensure that every MP is supported by the majority of their constituents voting at each election, we will hold a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote for elections to the House of Commons.Let us also remind ourselves who wrote this manifesto, the now Labour party leader, Ed Miliband.
But it doesn't stop there. Margaret, a former Labour Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Leader of the Labour party said, on her appointment as No2AV President:
"This is so important it has to rise above party politics. Only three other countries use AV and one, Fiji, is abandoning it. It led to a significant drop in the number of people voting in Australia – that's why they had to make voting compulsory. AV doesn't help democracy, it stands in its way."
Below are three reasons why her statement is flawed.
1) Fiji is under a military dictatorship
You would expect a former Foreign Secretary to know that Fiji not only no longer votes, but is currently rewriting their Constitution because... there was a military coup in 2006. This just happens to be the same year Margaret Beckett was appointed Foreign Secretary – perhaps she misspoke.
The official advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is:
A military coup took place in Fiji in December 2006. Travellers should exercise caution and are advised to monitor the local situation for developments. You should avoid all political rallies and avoid openly discussing political issues.Perhaps this is advice Margaret Beckett should heed, given her apparent ignorance on the subject.
The current debate surrounding the form of preferential voting used in Fiji, arose because candidates who are knocked out at each round get to choose who to transfer their votes to, as opposed to AV where voters rank the candidates in the order THEY want and their votes are then transferred in that order.
2) Turnout in Australian elections, prior to AV, fluctuated and in the two elections preceding, was not at their lowest level
Margaret Beckett states that in Australia, AV led to a significant drop in turnout and that is why they had to introduce compulsory voting. This is the timeline of events (taken from the Australian Electoral Commission in two sources - source one, source two):
1901 - first elections under the new Commonwealth using First Past the Post, turnout = 57%
1902 - Women given the right to vote
1903 - turnout = 50%
1906 - turnout = 51%
1910 - turnout = 63%
1913 - turnout = 73%
1914 - turnout = 73%
1915 - consideration given to compulsory voting, but the proposed referendum did not take place
1915 - compulsory voting introduced in the State of Queensland
1917 - turnout = 78%
1918 - AV introduced in Australian Federal elections
1919 - turnout = 71%
1922 - turnout = 60%
1924 - voting made compulsory
1925 - turnout, as one would expect, rises to 91%
As you can see the correlation between turnout and voting system used varies wildly - with the suggestion of compulsory voting being mooted before the change in voting system. Arguing that AV led to a drop in turnout, based on the stats, is like arguing giving women the right to vote did the same thing.
What she also forgets to state is that of the 30 other countries who have compulsory voting, none use AV, so her argument on both counts lacks comparative substance.
3) Labour uses AV for leadership elections
Margaret Beckett states that AV stands in the way of democracy. AV is used to elect Labour Party Leaders and Deputy Leaders (of which she was one), is this a coded attack on Ed Miliband? Is she calling Australia undemocratic?
In a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party in July 2010 on the future of the Shadow Cabinet, AV was suggested as the system to use to vote on the various options put forward. The author of this letter? One Margaret Beckett...
It seems the No2AV camp have once again demonstrated they have no more straws left to clutch and are now only interested in maintaining the Labour vs. Tory dichotomy.
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