The turn of the year brings an intriguing new uncertainty concept into perspective - or at least the Guardian thinks so in an editorial which construes how mixed messages from political leaders could affect the AV referendum outcome.
“The more David Cameron campaigns against reform”, says the paper, “the more likely it is to pass. The converse applies to his embattled deputy. Nick Clegg has banked his reputation on getting AV through, and yet now hints he will be happy with a back-seat role in a ‘people's campaign’, correctly calculating that, so far as he is concerned, the less is said the better.”
It continues, “Mr Miliband, who owes his own position to AV in the party's leadership elections, cites Labour's agreement to disagree in the 1975 referendum on Europe as some sort of precedent, but that case was entirely different, not least because of the passions it stirred among the electorate. The real reason for Mr Miliband's reticence is his fear of being on the losing side. The paradox, however, is that Labour's real interest would be best served by a full-blooded campaign for a ‘yes’, even if the ‘no’s carry the day.”
“If Labour campaigns shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lib Dems, those dissident liberals who fear their party picked the wrong bedfellows will be encouraged. And if the campaign ends in failure, Mr Miliband could shrug and say a referendum opposed by the prime minister was always doomed.”
It’s a funny old world.
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