AV or bust

From the off I'm not a huge fan of AV but I'll be voting Yes on May 5th. Why ? Because its a choice of two flawed electoral systems. Where I live in Brentwood under both systems the Tories are assured of the seat. Perhaps that's the reason why I prefer the regional list system used in the European Parliament elections. As for FPTP it's easy to argue that its unfair that small parties are discriminated against, however to many of my friends and family, that doesn't cut much ice when they see that the party that is most heavily punished is the Lib Dems. so what, I don't want to help those bastards , they say. The referendum couldn't come at a worst time, as Clegg and his cronies are toxic. How about AV would remove the need for tactical voting and no vote is wasted. Well this convinced me. It will allow me to put a #1 next to the Green candidate and a #2 by the side of the Labour candidate.. However there is a real fear amongst some progressive Labour voters that AV will prevent a majority Labour government in future. These voters are able to dismiss the fact that Labour won't deliver on social justice, but they hang to the view that they remain the only alternative to the Tories. I've discovered in the last two days that the battle of ideas has not yet been won. Many are adopting the "better the devil you know" approach. For those of us who want change, we have to engage with people now. Yes I'd prefer more proportional systems but they're not on offer, this is, I sense , a "one in the generation" chance to get rid of FPTP. During the next month there are many hearts and minds to be reached.