UK Liberals say prepared to end Blair cooperation By Gerrard Raven BRIGHTON, England, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The close relations between Britain's two centre left parties would be shattered if Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected plans for voting reform due to be published next month, senior Liberal Democrats said on Monday. Since Blair formed Britain's first non-Conservative government for almost two decades last year, his Labour party and the minority Liberals Democrats have cooperated on a string of projects to reform Britain's constitution. Liberal leader Paddy Ashdown has meanwhile followed a policy of ``constructive opposition'' on other issues which has led to complaints from some of his followers that he has ``pulled his punches'' in his criticism of Labour. Blair has even welcomed five Liberals onto a cabinet committee set up to thrash out details of plans ranging from the setting up of Scottish and Welsh parliaments to an extension of civil liberties. But a prominent MP and two influential members told delegates to the Liberal Democrats' annual conference that if Blair failed to back a change to the electoral system, the Liberals would have to withdraw from this committee. ``If he rejected it, there would be dismay, and the present model of constructive opposition could not be maintained,'' said legislator Charles Kennedy. ``Clearly it would seem to me that (in those circumstances) you can't carry on in the cabinet committee,'' added Lord Dick Newby at the same fringe meeting at the conference. Delegates in the hall were given the same message during a debate on constitutional affairs. ``In my view, should Mr Blair reject PR (proportional representation), we should withdraw from the cabinet committee,'' said Andrew Duff, a member of the party's policy committee and former party vice president. Blair will face a tough decision on the issue when a commission under Liberal Democrat Lord Roy Jenkins publishes a report at the end of next month. It will identify a ``broadly proportional'' system which Blair has promised to pit against first past the post in a nationwide referendum. Liberals are gloomy about their chances of winning this poll unless Blair actively backs change. But the Prime Minister must tread with care because his cabinet and party are deeply split on the issue. However, Ashdown told BBC radio on Monday he was optimistic Blair would come out in favour of reform. ``If you want me to guess, I guess it is likely that he will accept the outcome of the Jenkins Commission,'' he said. According to press speculation, Jenkins will recommend a system under which 500-550 MPs are elected in single member seats, with another 100-150 seats distributed among parties to make the result provide a fairer balance between votes cast and seats won. Liberals are critical of such a system even though it would have more than halved Blair's massive parliamentary majority, and have doubled the minority party's haul of 46 seats, if used at the last election. They traditionally favour the single transferable vote system used in Ireland, in which electors number candidates in a multi-member constituency in order of preference, saying this would be both more proportional and more voter- empowering. But conference delegates appear ready to accept a compromise. ``This is the best opportunity (for reform) we will have in our political lifetime,'' said MP Lembit Opik. ``We should go into the process in the expectation of finding something we can support.'' 12:20 09-21-98
