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Lib Dem president, speaking at Yes to AV campaign event, says prime minister ‘knows first past the post is corrupt’ The Liberal Democrat president, Tim Farron, has claimed that David Cameron’s lasting legacy as prime minister will be his decision to defend an “indefensible” electoral system. Campaigning for a Yes vote in the referendum on changing to the alternative vote system, Farron said Cameron had turned his back on a long Conservative tradition, stretching back to Disraeli and Baldwin, in favour of evolution of the voting system. He also claimed first past the post had made possible the “organised wickedness” of unemployment under years of Thatcherism, as well as preserved slavery and empire. His criticism of Thatcher prompted a rebuke from Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence party, who called on all sides in the referendum campaign not to resort to personal abuse. Farron said: “The more shrill and terrified the establishment sound, the more you know that voting Yes is right. “I thought he [Cameron] stood for change, progress and reform – he was the future once. “Does he really want to be remembered as the last defender of a discredited system? Whether he wins or loses, his legacy will be defending the indefensible”. He argued that, historically, the Conservatives have a good record of understanding when it is time for democracy to evolve. “Cameron knows the system is corrupt, and he knows he could and should make this small and vital reform,” he said. “He has got eight days to remember the kind of person he was.” He said the mass unemployment of the 80s “was organised wickedness given the veneeer of legitimacy by an electoral system that gave the Conservatives 100% of Britain’s power despite being opposed by 60% of the electorate”. First past the post predated the empire and slavery and kept both in existence, he added. And he said: “Do we want to be the generation mocked by our children and grandchildren for bottling this change, or do we want stand up to the press barons in this most Britsh of weeks to make a very British change, a small change that will make a big difference?” Farage and Farron were sharing the Yes platform with the former Labour former home secretary Alan Johnson and the leader of the Green party, Caroline Lucas. The Yes event came as campaign organisers said the outcome of the referendum would turn on whether Labour voters decided to back change and saw the status quo of first past the post as likely to entrench the Tory party in power for another century. Johnson acknowledged that Labour was divided over the issue – an inevitable result of the fact that the party can win under first past the post. He said: “I cannot imagine anyone joining a radical progressive party like the Labour party and thinking the electoral system is absolutely perfect and does not need change in any way.” He argued that “even though we can win through first past the post, we think it is a miserably disempowering system that belongs in the past. It is not of this age”. Johnson said the current system had been devised by a tiny political elite when most working men and women did not have the vote, and had been designed to suit the establishment’s preference for a two party system. Labour should not become part of that establishment, he said, adding: “It is against our history and our principles.” Farage, a supporter of a proportional system, complained: “The second-ever national referendum has degenerated into a war of abuse. Professional politicians bickering with one another does nothing to enthuse people to go out and vote next Thursday.” He said the people to whom he had spoken were completely turned off by the referendum, adding: “Very bad mistakes have been made on both sides.” He argued: “First past the post is seen by the younger generation as completely bankrupt. So my feeling is that, if the No campaign wins this, the issue of electoral reforms will be buried for a couple of decades. “If Yes wins, then at least people can vote with their conscience at the next election and can put their first choice against someone they actually believe in. “As the European elections [conducted by a form of proportional representation] have shown, that can produce some really surprising results.” AV referendum Alternative vote Electoral reform David Cameron Conservatives Alan Johnson Labour UK Independence party (Ukip) Liberal Democrats Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk