GILBERT WELCOMES CLEGG'S POLITICAL REFORM ANNOUNCEMENT

4.02.09pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 6th Jul 2010

On Tuesday, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced that a referendum would take place on May 5th 2011 posing the question of changing the way people vote in the UK to the more proportional Additional Vote method.

Local Liberal Democrat MP, Stephen Gilbert said:

"After 13 years of Labour inaction, Nick Clegg has announced a welcome and major series of progressive political reforms that will allow people across Cornwall to vote how they like, rather than needing to vote tactically to stop the party they don't want to elect.

"The coalition Government has decided in one move to give all voters a much greater say in who is chosen to represent them and to give Parliament a much greater say in the business of Government.

"With an easier and more up to date electoral register in the future, the whole of Britain will have a much more representative democracy. We will also end the scandal where votes have been of unequal value and in many places of no value at all - and where many people have scandalously not even been allowed to vote."