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James King

Opinion: 5 reasons the AV referendum lost

By James King | Fri 13th May 2011 - 10:30 am

Here is my take on the five main reasons why the UK gave such a comprehensive thumbs down to AV, with one important lesson for the future:

  1. Tuition fees and trust – This is not the place to rehearse all the arguments on tuition fees. But there can be no denying that it was a significant turning point in public perceptions of Nick Clegg. Even though over 300 Tory MPs voted for higher fees, the Conservative-dominated No campaign ruthlessly exploited this as an argument against coalitions in general and Clegg in particular. While I believe the policy itself can be justified, Clegg clearly under-estimated the political cost of a U-turn, particularly in the context ofacritical referendum that needed to be won only a few months later.
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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 46 Comments
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  • nigel hunter
    cHLOE, bLAIR CONTINUED tHATCHERISM. Our industries were 'transferred to China etc, cos they made them cheaper. Result, all the UK has are warehouses to store ...
  • Hywel
    "the cost of a first-class letter has risen by more than 100% in the last five years" Outside of sending leaflets at election time when was the last time peo...
  • Chloe
    Nigel; Every single factory my parents and their families worked in - in my home town has gone . Only to be replaced by low pay , low skill warehouse work on th...
  • Judy Abel
    And yes Brexit took the breaks off the worst excesses of neoliberalism with weaker consumer regulation and less scrutiny of public procurement for example....
  • Judy Abel
    @NigelHunter I agree with every word. Money is leaking out of the economy to narrow private business interests like water through a collander....