EDINBURGH SOUTH MP Ian Murray thrown his weight behind the ‘No to AV’ campaign less than a fortnight before the referendum on the alternative vote system for Westminster.

The Labour MP announced his backing of the No campaign in an email published on LabourList.org, where he condemned the Yes campaign’s tactics, specifically it’s claim that AV would make MPs “work harder”.

Murray told The Student the recent TV advert that carried the claim was, “a disgraceful way to treat colleagues and fellow MPs,” and the final straw in persuading him to back a No vote on May 5.

He said, “I was, in my opinion, rightly furious.  Not just because of this false impression of MPs but it was a real slap in the face to my very hardworking staff.  Anyone who has had the need to use our local service will know how hard the staff in my constituency office work.  They also know that I do more advice sessions than any other MP in the country, 152 a year, and that we have one of the busiest constituency offices.”

He said, “Furthermore, we are not all rich freeloaders on the public purse.  Many MPs, particularly Scottish MPs, are from normal backgrounds with families and very modest incomes.  That is, I think, what people want from MPs - people with real life experience that understands their issues.”

Despite publically supporting the No campaign, Murray was equally scathing of the tactics used by the campaign to reject voting reform. He said, “The AV debate has been atrocious.  Neither the No or Yes campaigns have managed an ounce of factual argument about the merits of their arguments.  The mudslinging over the BNP, the claims of MPs getting 50 per cent of the vote and the misguided notion of tactical voting, to name but a fraction of the claims, have all gone to show that perhaps it was the wrong time to have this referendum.

“The final act to add insult to injury were the television political broadcasts,” he said.

Murray told The Student that he had multiple concerns with AV already, adding, “The additional reasons are plentiful.  It is being promoted for political purposes and the package of measures attached to AV makes it unpalatable.  I would have been more than happy to have had a proper debate about electoral systems and the most appropriate system for Westminster . . . but it must be done for the right reasons.”

Murray has criticised the AV referendum in public previously, raising concerns about the cost of the referendum itself in Parliament. During questions to deputy prime minister Neck Clegg, he called the referendum a “vanity project” and asked Clegg, “does your continuing leadership depend on the outcome of this vote?”

Despite the Labour Party being a vocal supporter of electoral reform, several prominent Labour politicians, including Murray’s fellow Scots Jim Murphy and John Reid have campaigned against the alternative vote system in recent weeks.