"Renewing our democracy is at the heart of our reforms" the Government claimed a year ago today but, a year later, it's still not how it's acting. The quotation comes from Jack Straw's written ministerial statement of this time last year, in which he set out the Government’s alleged progress in meeting the then one year-old objectives of the Governance of Britain programme of constitutional reform.

The full sentence is "Renewing our democracy is at the heart of our reforms, building a new relationship between citizens and government and ensuring that the rights of individuals are fully respected." What is the most basic relationship between citizens and government? It is the way the legislature is elected and the Government chosen. What has the Government done about that in the intervening year? Nothing!

In the meantime, the MPs’ expenses scandal has stimulated growing calls for electoral reform that are unlikely to go away. True, some ministers have suggested half-hearted reforms like AV and AV+, but the Government as a whole still shows no signs of introducing even either of those systems or, much better, letting the people decide in a national referendum.

STV is especially relevant to the expenses scandal because it would allow voters to express their views in the ballot box on the relative integrity of candidates; it would enable them to re-elect the honest and careful and boot out the dishonest and careless without having to vote against their own party.