George Eustice MP appeared on Newsnight last night in a special programme dedicated to the forthcoming referendum on our electoral system.
The debate, chaired by Jeremy Paxman, featured Labour MP, Tom Harris joining with George on the 'No' side, against shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, and Liberal Democrat MP, Jo Swinson in favour of a change. The argument of the 'Yes' campaign was weakened by Ms Swinson's admission that AV was not her preferred voting system, and was strongly rebutted by George's arguments that the referendum itself was a "politicians' fix" rather than a high priority for the public. He also attacked the AV system as "totally unfair" in that it eroded the fundamental democratic principle of 'one person, one vote' and would mean some people get more votes than others. As George said, "why should someone who votes for the BNP be allowed to have their vote counted a second or even a third time?".
Towards the end of the programme the studio audience were asked to vote for the most convincing panellist, ranking them in order of preference as per the AV system. Jeremy Paxman announced that George had won the vote, winning more than 50% of the first preferences. Further proof, if it was needed, that a change to the AV system is unecessary, unwarranted and unwanted.
UPDATE 22/2/11:
George's appearance on the programme has been praised by Martin Ivens writing in this week's Sunday Times. Mr Ivens commented, "A Newsnight debate culminating in the ballot of a politically balanced audience on Thursday was instructive. The vote went “no”. The audience were first given a series of polling questions which outlined how the two systems worked. That — and the Tory MP George Eustice’s forceful advocacy — did the trick."