Mr. Oliver Stanley said, however, that he was convinced that
if there was to be any change a majority of the House would prefer Proportional Representation to the Alternative Vote: The Alternative Vote would give a much less accurate reflection of opinion than was Obtained now. His strongest complaint against the Bill was that it had no relation to the present condition of the nation. The Labour-Liberal bargain was consuming the time of the House of Commons while hardly anything was being done about what really mattered. Mr. Maxton thought that it was futile to alter the methods of election until the machinery of Parliament itself had been reconstructed. And what motive, he asked, had-forced the Government to retain the business vote in the City of London ? That was a pertinent question. There are very good reasons, we think, for retaining it, but nobody who accepts those reasons has much case left for abolishing University representation. In the division the second reading was carried by two hundred and ninety-five votes to two hundred and thirty.
* *
Previous page
