AV vote ‘rigged’
By politics.co.uk staff
The AV vote has been “rigged” to boost the chances of a ‘yes’ vote, according to a former Cabinet secretary.
Former Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth said the vote had been timed to coincide with the Scottish elections to boost turnout north of the border and increase the chances of a ‘yes’ vote.
That raised the prospect that the ‘yes’ campaign will win even though England votes no.
“It’s not a coincidence that the referendum is being held on May 5. It has been rigged,” Lord Forsyth told the Daily Mail.
“One of the driving forces of the Liberals’ insistence that it should be on the same day as the Scottish elections is their hope that a high turnout in Scotland will deliver a yes vote.
“It is entirely possible that we will have a no vote in England on a low turnout and a yes vote in Scotland on a high turnout,” he continued.
“If that delivers an overall yes, that would be a disaster for the Union. People in England will say their voting system has been changed by votes north of the border, and that the entire referendum has been rigged so that it is held on a date when turnout would be higher in Scotland.”
Lord Forsyth had been part of an effort to secure parliamentary approval of the referendum result if turnout dropped below 40%, but the effort failed.
“The way the legislation has been framed also means that for the first time in history, the result is automatically binding,” he said.
“All previous referendums have been referred to parliament, which would have the final say.”
Pundits are expecting a much lower turnout in England than in parts of the UK with separate elections.
