"Caroline Flint is against it" is not an argument

So nearly half of Labour MPs are against a change in the voting system for the House of Commons to the Alternative Vote. When this is combined with most Tory MPs it is looking like well over half and perhaps more than two thirds of MPs want to stick with the status quo rather than move to a preferential system.

I'm not sure that this is particularly interesting or important news. What it essentially boils down to is that the majority of people whose jobs depend (to a greater or lesser extent) on the current electoral system want to keep that electoral system. I'd be very surprised if the majority of MPs did back the change. At the same time, that is precisely the reason why their views should hold little sway and it should be the debate in the country that informs the referendum decision. It is the same reason why I am glad that Nick Clegg and other senior Lib Dem MPs are taking a back-seat in the Yes to AV campaign as the opposite charge can be levelled against them too.

By the way, I am sure that many (perhaps most) of the MPs who are against change hold their views as a matter of principle. The problem is that there is such a fundamental conflict of interest that it is impossible to disentangle it. It is the same sort of situation that MPs who lobby for a particular industry and are then discovered to have business interests in that same industry find themselves compromised by. They may be completely innocent but they have all now (largely) realised that they are better off avoiding the conflict of interest in the first place.

Instead of focusing on who backs what we should be looking at the arguments for and against. And I am afraid that "Caroline Flint is against it" is not an argument.

Watch Flint

Following Hazel Blears spectacular resignation today, ministers like Peter Mandleson and Liam Byrne have been trying to imply on the media that the pressure was too much. As Iain Dale has said in the past don't underestimate a cornered chipmunk! They are playing a very dangerous game. What she had said so far can be spun that she was not being critical of the government but if she hardens her words she could make it impossible for this be portrayed as anything other than a huge slap in the face for Brown.

Also, keep an eye on Caroline Flint a staunch ally of Ms Blears. If she was to also go over the top (perhaps in sympathy as Hazel's treatment) that would be the local government minister and the Europe minister resigning just before the local and European elections. Again, no amount of spin can disguise the political catastrophe that would signal.

Will Ms Flint have the courage to make the move now at the point of maximum damage for Gordon Brown?

Caroline Flint - speed reader

Following the recent revelation that Caroline Flint had not read the Lisbon Treaty, John Rentoul of The Independent reported yesterday that the situation had been remedied.

It really should not have taken embarassment like this to force the Europe Minister to actually read the treaty that Parliament has assented to on our behalf. She has had six months to get up to speed with it and I would argue that it should have been the very first thing she did on day one!

I am curious to know what other things have been deemed a higher priority for her to read until now.