AV: Will they? - or won't they?

As the projected referendum on the FPTP / AV voting system for general elections nears acceptance by Parliament, the various sides of the debate are staking out their territory and their supporters.

News from all directions today... Firstly came reports that a number (five) Labour Party grandees had come out against a change to the Alternative Vote:

Labour veterans to oppose change to AV election system (BBC News Online)

Five former Labour cabinet ministers have pledged their opposition to changing the system for electing MPs.

Margaret Beckett, David Blunkett, Lord Falconer, Lord Reid and Lord Prescott all said they would campaign against replacing first-past-the-post with the alternative vote (AV) system.

Later came news that the "No to AV" campaign had been forced to remove the name of Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, from their list of supporters against any change to the electoral system:

Campaigners against voting reform in Gove mistake (BBC News Online)

Campaigners against changing the Westminster voting system have wrongly included Michael Gove on a list of politicians supporting their cause.

Those opposed to replacing first-past-the-post named a list of high-profile Labour and Conservative politicians who they said would back their campaign. But they were forced to remove the education secretary's name after his advisers said he was "undecided".

 Expect to see much more of this sort of thing as the referendum date draws near!