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A pro-Labour source whom I trust, and who was working on the fringes of the coaliton talks says that to his knowledge Gordon Brown DID suggest to Nick Clegg at one point that it might be possible to push through AV without a referendum.

This source says Brown held two secret meetings with Nick Clegg on the Sunday. The suggestion of AV without a referendum was made at their first meeting. My source says Brown also suggested at these talks that it might be possible to go ahead with AV without a public vote and then have a referendum later on more radical and proportional electoral reform.

And, the source says, the two parties came close to a coalition deal at this point.

According to this source this suggestion was then withdrawn when Brown met Clegg for a second secret meeting late on the Sunday night.

So it now seems Labour DID make an offer, but that it had been withdrawn almost 24 hours before Cameron and Hague were using it to persuade their Shadow Cabinet and MPs that they had to make the dramatic move to offer the Lib Dems a referendum on AV.