Yes Campaign stifled by Parliament’s rules
February 16, 2011
Wales Yes Campaign stifled by Parliament’s rules.
This is an excellent account by John Osmond of IWA on how a central part of PPERA (the referendum rules) works and a major flaw in the legislation now damaging the democratic process in Wales.
I warned 8 months ago at a conference in Cardiff of this implicit VETO in the Act which is truly anti the referendum debate itself an absolutely integral part of the referendum device. Lord Neill was convinced mainly by the Welsh experience in 1997 that some minimal funding is needed if the referendum debate is to be useful and fair. I agree and have long disliked the wording in the Act. Perhaps we need to look at the US legislation where campaigns opt in or out of State funding.
This isn’t the only nonsense in the Act. The Scottish Devolution referendum was a simple multi-option referendum, a feature largely ignored by the voters. But if held now under PPERA, the Commission would have to fund campaigns for all three “possible outcomes on the ballot paper”, I presume the fourth outcome, a taxpower without a Parliament would have been regarded as not a “possible outcome”. However even three campaigns would have been complicating enough as the broadcasters would have to follow suit by representing all of them. And just as in Wales now any one of the three would have the funding VETO.
This must change.
