Politics shouldn't be some mind-bending exercise. It's about what you feel in your gut
David Cameron
Former Labour home secretary John Reid has accused supporters of the 'Yes to AV' campaign of doing so for "tactical party advantage".
Sharing a platform with David Cameron this morning Lord Reid suggested there was a "growing and well founded assumption" that part of the aim of the 'Yes' campaign was to help the Liberal Democrats electorally and the party's leadership personally.
"It would not only be wrong but it would be an outrage to try and secure a change of the electoral system for tactical party advantage," he said. "I include in that the leadership of the Lib Dems."
"The answerfor losing parties is to work harder to win the confidence of the votersm not to introduce a system that tries to change losers into winners by some magical complicated mathematical formula."
He accused the 'Yes to AV' campaign, supported by his party's leader Ed Miliband, of trying to "change the rules of the game" to make up for bad electoral results.
And he reminded the audience in London that more than 200 Labour MPs and peers, hundreds of Labour councillors and thousands of rank and file Labour members were opposed to ditching first past the post.
Speaking before Lord Reid, Cameron said he felt in his "gut" that AV was wrong.
"It is obscure, it is unfair, it is expensive and it could mean people who come third in elections will end up winning," he said.
"Politics shouldn't be some mind-bending exercise. It's about what you feel in your gut, about the values you hold dear and the beliefs you instinctively have. And I just feel it, in my gut, that AV is wrong."
The 'No to AV' press conference was held moments after Ed Miliband and Vince Cable were joined on stage at a 'Yes to AV' event by another former Labour home secretary, Alan Johnson.
In his first high profile appearance since his resignation as shadow chancellor Johnson said a switch to AV would be a "significant" step forward.
And he rejected suggestions from the No campaign that AV would see more extremist parties such as the BNP elected to Parliament.
He said the biggest step forward for fascism in Europe would be if Marine Le Pen won the French presidential elections. But he said this would not happen "because they don't have first past the post" in France and she would be defeated on subsequent rounds of voting.
Miliband told the event that the No campaign was based on "simply fear, groundless fears" about the complexity and fairness of AV.
"I reject all of those groundless fears and I urge people of all persuasions to choose hope over fear," he said. "This referendum is not about Nick Clegg, it's not about David Cameron, it's not about me. It is a chance to have a better politics in Britain."
The Labour leader has refused to share a platform with Nick Clegg but was joined by the Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable, who also attacked the claim that AV would help extremist parties get elected.
"One of the most bizarre arguments used in this campaign is that somehow or other the AV system will favour extremist parties like the BNP. It will do exactly the opposite," he said.
"The people who run the BNP may not be very bright, but at least they have worked out what's in their self interest and their self interest is in opposing the alternative vote because every MP has got to reach out and get a majority of their electorate. It's much more difficult for extremists to accomplish that."
The referendum on May 5 is seen as a crucial test for the coalition. A 'No' vote could make Lib Dems further question the wisdom of joining the Conservatives in power while a 'Yes' vote may further unsettle Tory backbenchers unhappy with the direction of the government.
Most Conservative MPs are opposed to AV but offered the Lib Dems a referendum on changing the voting system as part of the coalition deal.
Labour meanwhile are split over whether to support the change despite it forming part of their 2010 manifesto pledge.
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