AV: Nick Clegg lays in to Labour, some Tories… and Charles Kennedy

Charles Kennedy: is his parliamentary seat for the chop? (Photo: Paul Grover)

We have found a worthy successor to David Laws as Coalition hero of the day. Nick Clegg used his statement on AV and the size of the House to lay in with gusto to those in front of him – and behind him – who are unhappy with the detail of his constitutional proposals. He was particularly good at duffing up Labour, to the delight of the Tories around him. He could almost be a Conservative, such is the energy and anger he put into his demolition job of Labour’s dishonesty and failures on constitutional reform. David Cameron – “my Rt Hon friend” – looked particularly pleased. Mr Clegg’s performance will have strengthened No10’s claim that the two are joined at the hip.

Also striking was the tone he used against Tory opponents. To Bernard Jenkin, the ’22’s anti-AV organiser, who asked if choosing May 5 was a wheeze to inflate turnout, Mr Clegg asked pointedly what was inflationary about giving people a chance to have their say. To Philip Davies who asked why have a referendum so soon, he asked if he prefered to “waste a huge amount of taxpayer money” to hold the referendum another time. The terms of the announcement favour the Conservatives, despite the nervousness of the opponents of AV. In exchange for the certainty of reducing the size of the Commons – from 650 to 600, a smaller reduction than initially planned – they get the possibility of a change to the voting system. Tory MPs are even now preparing wrecking amendments, but Downing Street calculates that most will conclude that the balance of advantage lies with them.

That may of course be a tad optimistic. Mr Clegg left a few unexploded bombs behind him as well. Take Charles Kennedy. He has so far kept quiet about the Coalition after voting against it. He popped up today to ask Mr Clegg a parochial question of great importance to him: what will happen to the Highland seats, specifically his, which is the biggest by area of any parliament in Europe. There will be no exceptions to the constituency equalisation review, Mr Clegg told him somewhat tartly, apart from the two island seats (Orkney and Shetland) and the cap on seat size of about 13,000 sq mi. In other words, Mr Kennedy’s seat is up for grabs and could be for the chop. Will this hasten Mr Kennedy’s decision to hoist the flag of Lib Dem opposition to the Coalition?