Dave's Top Tips for the Nay-sayers

The debate is on. The big guns have begun pounding as our Prime Minister sets out the real reasons to say No in the electoral reform referendum.

He kept it simple and clear sticking to three major themes, clever strategy from someone who thinks we're all too thick to understand AV anyway.

Certified sane by doctors

Propping up his chart at number three is the fact that only Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Australia use the system, so if nobody uses it it must be bad eh?

Oh and Ireland use it too to elect their President, and Northern Ireland for the assembly, and the Scottish assembly. Yes and the London Mayor of course. Apparently the President of India's elected this way too. And the House of Lords and New Zealand city mayors. And a lot of private elections such as leaders of Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives (to some extent). Of course Big Brother and the X-factor use a longer drawn out version to get nutcases to dial 0898 numbers and waste their incapacity benefit with BT.

So more than three sunny paradises then, some right shit-holes use it too.

In second place of David's big reasons to vote no is the fact that BNP hooligans get two, three or four votes whereas your honest to goodness taxpayers only get one go. This is crap as I mentioned before. AV doesn't benefit racists, that's why the BNP supports the No to AV campaign.

And at Tip-top top of the the shot number one in the hit parade is the thought that AV allows candidates who come third to end up winning. Not really Dave, the winner ends up winning. That's why they're called the winner. What you mean is that some candidates are so like Marmite that the majority of the constituents will never support them, whereas other candidates are more like cheese & onion crisps and people will pick them and enjoy them if there's no scampi flavoured fries left. Remember MPs are elected to represent their constituents, therefore they have to be acceptable to the majority of them.

How must the Investment banker feel if he has to go to his local MPs surgery to discuss his off-shore tax issues only to be faced with an ex-mining union official with 4lb of spuds on his shoulder as his representative. Disenfranchised that's how he feels. Life would have been great if the old Major who once burnt a village school down in Tanzania while hunting rhinos had won, but after the incident with the lady-boy at the vicarage (Turns out people aren't as liberal as they like to make out) he was never going to get a majority. He'd even prefer it if it was the limp-wristed vegetarian that nobody really hated  sat there listening intently to his money problems. Unfortunately his only hope for financial assistance in his hour of need hates him and got his position with less than 30% of the votes cast. The majority of voters could well hate his chippy socialist attitude but we live in a minority rule FPTP country, he doesn't need a majority to rule.

So that's it. These are the three biggest reasons not to vote Yes (There's another one he mentions, something about that dog that sells insurance, Winston or something?). No mention of why first past the post is so much fairer, no explanation of the benefits seen by the voter of FPTP and no reasons why a FPTP government is so much more effective.

Just Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt about AV. That's all he's got. Tweet