Over the decades John Prescott has become a champagne buffoon from his two jags to croquet on the Dorneywood lawn – but every clown has his day and Prescott’s having a bit of a blinder.

Nick Clegg has made much about his proposed referendum on AV next May.

And you can understand why. This was his pay off for what he’s agreed to so far.

He sold out his party and the near seven million people who voted Lib Dem by letting in a Tory-led Government that’s hit the poor with 20% VAT, slashed child tax credits and sanctioned the prospect of 40% cuts to Government budgets that will devastate public services and lead to more than 1.3 million job losses.

Now on the very day plans for more than 700 new state schools were axed, Clegg championed AV, a form of voting he once described as a ‘miserable little compromise.’

And on this occasion, I agree with Nick.

That’s exactly what it is – cover for the biggest gerrymandering of seats that I have ever seen in my 40 years in politics.

This is a poisonous package and Labour must fight against every single part of it.

So let’s make the May elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and local councils a proper referendum on this ConDem government and a set of savage and brutal policies that no-one would have voted for at the last General Election.

Update:

I’m indebted to Stephen Johnson who made a very important point in my comments section which really sums up Clegg’s inconsistency.

Clegg cancelled Labour’s £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, which would have built a new press to make parts for nuclear power stations, providing a sustainable future for the company and creating hundreds of new jobs at the plant and thousands more in the supply chain.

He defended the cancellation of the loan, saying: “We have to take difficult choices to make sure taxpayers’ money is spent as wisely as possible.”

And the cost of a referendum for a voting system he described as a “miserable little compromise?”

£80m. John Prescott.

Now I’m not against electoral reform – but AV isn’t a reform in fact it’s hard to see how AV will be any different from the first past the post system currently in use – if we’re to have a vote let’s make it worthwhile and have a referendum on a reform that makes a difference – I suggest the Single Transferable Vote for starters.

Still that’s a side issue what Prescott’s really worried about is

His description of the boundary changes and the way in which they are to be constructed as “cover for the biggest gerrymandering of seats that I have ever seen in my 40 years in politics,” was accurate and precise.

The Tories have grasped the opportunity to fiddle the voting profile of this country in such a way as to diminish the importance of Labour’s hold on the inner cities and rebalance the ballot profile of the country to enhance the chances of the Tories in seats where they were hitherto weak. Morning Star.

The reduction in the number of MPs will mean larger constituencies and as Scottish and Welsh constituencies tend to be smaller this will mean fewer Welsh and Scottish constituencies and more in the English Shires which will only mean one thing more Tories in Westminster – David Cameron’s motto seems to be – if you can’t win an election then fix the next so you will.