Yes or No to AV?

The Yes / No campaigns for the May 5th referendum on AV have stepped up a gear locally.

On Saturday, in Surrey Quays, we'd only just dodged Sally Gunnell on a scooter before we were set upon by the Yes campaign, whose argument was that "the trouble with First Past the Post is that they keep moving the goalposts." It was a bewildering double-whammy. At the same time, in nearby Lewisham, Conservative councillor Christine Allison and GLA candidate Alex Wilson doorstepped TK Maxx customers urging them to vote no.

There are lots of indefensible aspects of the British constitution: the monarchy, the unelected upper chamber, the fact that there isn't a British constitution. But BC can never really get exercised about any of them. Constitutional reform is what people get exercised about in lieu of actual ideas.

First Past the Post voting is the least of the sins of the British political system. BC prefers the smack of firm majority government to the slippery nature of coalitions. If you're going to rip it up and start again, why bother for the sake of a miserable half-measure like AV that, for example, will make absolutely no difference to the value of your vote in Lewisham?

According to a Guardian poll, the AV campaign is collapsing. The No vote has it by 16 points. But how will you be voting on May 5th?

UPDATED: Here's a sponsored video by the Electoral Commission to explain it all for you.