Kennedy can share pro-AV platform

Former Lib Dem leader to stand with Ed Miliband at joint alternative vote campaign rally after Nick Clegg drops objection The row between the Liberal Democrats and Labour over a joint approach to the referendum on the alternative vote has been resolved after the former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy was given permission to share a platform with Ed Miliband. Nick Clegg agreed that Kennedy could appear alongside Miliband – and that Clegg will not be present. Plans for a Kennedy-Miliband rally were dropped last week after the deputy prime minister objected. Miliband called on Clegg this week to lie low during the referendum, saying his presence would reduce support for the yes campaign among Labour supporters. The joint event will occur on 29 March, but the episode has left bruised feelings on both sides that will take time to repair. Clegg will deliver a speech in Manchester on Friday urging yes to AV supporters to rise above party politics. He feels frustrated that Miliband is not doing more to campaign for a yes vote, arguing that short-term arguments between the two parties are dwarfed by the importance of the referendum. Lib Dems are also concerned that David Cameron is going too far in supporting the no campaign, including personal attacks on Clegg. The no campaign held a meeting in No 10 on Tuesday. As Miliband battled with Clegg, he suffered the embarrassment of seeing more than half his MPs sign a no to AV petition. The Labour leader was joined at a rally in London by Neil Kinnock, Oona King and Ken Livingstone. Three members of the shadow cabinet are openly campaigning against AV: Caroline Flint, Mary Creagh and John Healey. Flint, the shadow communities secretary, said that 5 May, which also sees local elections, will be a “referendum on Nick Clegg”. But she denied the Labour split on AV was a problem, saying there was an “open discussion” within the party. Lord Falconer, a former Labour cabinet minister and one of the patrons of the no campaign, argued that a no vote could precipitate an earlier general election. Writing in the New Statesman, he said: “Miliband could be prime minister sooner than many people think. And the way to achieve that is to reject his advice on AV. If the referendum is won by the yes campaigners, it would be advantageous for the Lib Dems to delay the general election until after AV is introduced in 2015, under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act. “But if the Lib Dems lose the referendum, there will be no reason to delay – the quicker they get out of the coalition, the sooner they will be on the road to recovery with the electorate.” Clegg’s aides believe senior Conservatives are aiding personal attacks on the deputy prime minister. “Imagine if there was a no to Trident campaign,” said one, “and it was putting out posters attacking Cameron and Fox as warmongers, Lib Dem HQ was funding it and Nick was helping drum up cash … I don’t think so.” They believe Cameron has gone too far to assuage the concerns of his anti-AV backbenchers and is now helping the no to AV campaign too effectively. In the words of one senior Lib Dem, no to AV has become a “Tory front campaign”, and “anti-Clegg swift boat [a reference to attacks on John Kerry during the 2004 US election]“. On Tuesday, these tensions reached their apogee when the no to AV team held a meeting in No 10.Also on Tuesday night, Lib Dem activists were given the go-ahead to “highlight” the close Conservative ties to the NO campaign. AV Electoral reform Liberal Democrats Labour Ed Miliband Charles Kennedy Nick Clegg Allegra Stratton Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk

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