A few links of interest

Our Chair, Stephen Twigg's campaign site for Liverpool West Derby.

Labour Outlook.

And don't forget the already-indispensible Politics Home, care of Andrew Rawnsley, Martin Bright and others.

Today we have also been looking at Hopi Sen (though it has been around for a bit!).

What we're reading: Progressive blogs

Northern Rock: History will vindicate Darling
The Tories have been crying wolf about this and everything else. The world can now see that. The counter proposal to have let the thing go bump immediately was (a) not what they said at the time and (b) not in the tax payers, depositors, borrowers or workers interests. How would that have benefitted shareholders.
Posted by Chris Paul, February 19 at 3:46pm

The politics of Northern Rock
Clearly it’s taken a long time getting to this point, during which many people (including the Lib Dems) have been calling for more speed. The Government has spent months casting around for a suitable private buyer – and failing to find one. You might well call this dithering, but given that, you can’t also say that they’re eager to take Britain “back to the 1970s”.
Posted by Tom Freeman on Freemania, February 18 at 3:40pm

Bye, bye Castro
Is it too much to hope that the people of Cuba might be given a vote in a free election to decide who now leads their country? Maybe the Communists would win, but personally I hope Cubans would choose a third way which kept Cuba's commitment to free healthcare and education whilst bringing in freedom of speech, political pluralism and an end to the command economy.
Posted by Luke Akehurst, February 19 at 12:06pm

Further nail in coffin of Respect
Anyone following this blog, my Tribune columns and other web outpourings will know I’m parti-pris when it comes to Respect (can’t stand them) so I was amused to see that another of their councillors in their Tower Hamlets powerbase has defected. This one has not “come home to Labour” but done a political somersault to join the Tories, after it seems having a few wobblies on the way.
Posted by Rupa Huq, February 17

Daily Mail’s true colours
The Daily Mail has a reputation for insidious racism and xenophobic propaganda, however, this leaked email from features writer Diana Appleyard illustrates the extent of the Mail's cynicism.
Posted by Alex Hilton at Labour Home, February 16 at 9:57am

A barrister's call for Tony Blair to be killed is no joke

Last week a question was raised about whether it was ever right for lawyers to be bugged.  Well, the answer must be yes if the online views of a Lincoln's Inn barrister are to be taken literally. Blogging under the name of Geek Lawyer, this distinguished judicial person ended a typical anti-Blair rant with the words: 

“Why oh why oh why oh why can’t the useless rag-head pillocks in Al Queda assassinate him? It would be great PR for them: many of us would revise our low opinion of them if they could do us this one small service. Their ineptness is proof that the terrorism ‘threat’ is laughable.”

As can be imagined, this incendiary remark by a person of the law has caused quite a furore on the internet, especially amongst those who don't buy in to the idea that Tony Blair is the Devil incarnate who deserves all the abuse that can be heaped upon him (click here)

Of course, when Mr Big Mouth was confronted with the possibility of being prosecuted under the anti-terrorism laws or of being referred to the Bar Council his acolytes leaped to his defence on the basis that his words were just meant to be "humorous" or "satirical".

However, as I pointed out to them in a website debate, calling for the assassination of a public figure in these dangerous times is well beyond a joke or even just bad taste. Free speech never encompassed the right to shout "fire" in a crowded theatre for fun. Nor should it encompass the right to publically goad AL Qaeda into murdering an ex-Prime Minister even, if it is done in jest.

The Geek Lawyer Blog site that started all this has now mysteriously closed down although the owner is continuing his blatherings in other quarters. In a post to a pro-Blair site he wrote "I do of course very much wish that someone, somewhere, someday kills Blair. I am however not inciting it or encouraging it, nor would I assist or cooperate in it".

No doubt there will be those who will argue that what is being said by this loopy lawyer is no big deal. Comments of this sort are appearing all the time on the internet and a free society  should be strong enough to accommodate them. I beg to differ. Quite apart from the incitement to terrorism aspects even jocular demands for the death of public figures coarsens the nature of political debate and corrodes those civilised values that hold our society together.

This is something that should be stopped, now.

What we're reading: Progressive blogs

Agreeing with Jackie Ashley
We do need new ideas - probably lots of small ones - to respond to the way society is changing. But I don't think we lack a "big idea". The core vision of what a Labour Government should be about is adequately described in one sentence on the recruitment page of the Party website.
Posted by Luke Akehurst, February 4 at 11:59am

Opinion polls: Cameron vs Kinnock
The Tories’ poll leads have been dropping recently (one poll last week even put Labour ahead), and of course there’s much media comment on whether and why David Cameron’s efforts are stalling. I’ve also seen several pundits remark that Labour’s poll leads while in opposition were much more impressive.
Posted by Tom Freeman on Freemania, February 4 at 9:36am

Dig up, man, dig up!
However, the vast majority of people I have come into contact with through being involved in politics don't give a damn about the money, and many have slaved away for hours on end in local government, way before anyone decided 'allowances' should be paid.
Posted by Bob Piper, February 3 at 12:00am

Bedside manner needs work
Ah, the British Medical Association. Is it a union? A club? A whinge-chamber? And how does it continue to exist, given that its single historic achievement was a failed attempt to prevent the creation of the National Health Service, which we're continually told is Cherished By All Of Us?
Posted by Lloyd Shepherd on Westmonster, February 4 at 8:48am

What we're reading: Progressive blogs

Poverty and simplicity
'I don’t accept their claim that “the Conservative Party is developing a deeper understanding of the subject than New Labour has ever manifested”. They argue that “Government policy revolves around a simplistically defined poverty line”, but “measures of relative income are… not sufficient” because there are “other important indicators of deprivation” that the Government ignores.'
Posted by Tom Freeman on Freemania, December 20 at 10:20am

Attack of the clones
'I am already having trouble telling the difference ... '
Posted by Luke Akehurst, December 19 at 10:29am

The difference between halving child poverty and doing nice things
'In 1999, a prime minister not noted for bold visionary statements made a visionary statement. In the Beveridge Lecture, delivered on 18 March 1999, Tony Blair committed his government to abolishing child poverty within 20 years.'
Posted by Antonia Bance, December 17 at 11:00pm

Social mobility is not what Labour should be about
'There has been a lot of comment in the last year on the “failure” of Labour to increase social mobility. Except I don’t think it is a failure at all.'
Posted on Could have been a contender, December 15

What we're reading: Progressive blogs

Welcome to the first edition of a weekly series, a round-up of Progress' favourite blogs from the past week ...

Jeffrey Archer Watch: Theatre
'Jeffrey's been to the theatre this week, and had this to say: "Pantomime villains can often over-play the role, but he gave a beautifully understated performance of a thoroughly evil and unpleasant man."'
Posted by Lloyd Shepherd on Westmonster, 13 Dec 2007  at 4:40pm

Gilding the Lilly
'The Tory think tank, The Policy Exchange is under fire from Newsnight. At stake, specifically, is the credibility of their recent report, the Hijacking of British Islam.'
Posted by david t on Harry's Place, 13 Dec 2007 at 12:15pm

am i a lib dem'r?
'I was never really an Old Labour man. I became politicised during the age of Blair. Although, more than most, I have always been interested and aware of politics and current affairs. I remember a Christmas quiz at school and I was the only one (we were about 14 or 15-years old) who knew that the leader of the opposition was one Neil Kinnock. I was astonished, but it does prove that political apathy was around even when the divisive Maggie was in Number 10.'
Posted on Tygerland, 11 Dec 2007 at 08:03 pm

NotW Gay Horror!
'I had the misfortune to read the News of the World on the train home yesterday and was quite offended by an article about the Spice Girls.'
Posted on Recess Monkey, 10 Dec 2007 at 1:51pm

The Decade That Taste Forgot
'Liam Byrne says that we are not a nation of Alf Garnetts. All this in a week when Martin Amis and Morrissey have had their own brushes with controversy on related issues ... '
Posted by Rupa Huq, December 6, 2007

Is Matthew Taylor right about blogs?

I have met Matthew Taylor a couple of times and will admit to quite liking him. He has always struck me as a someone with a sharp brain and a solid grasp of modernity and the need to develop a progressive political agenda. Until now that is.

Speaking at an e-democracy conference earlier this week he said:

What is the big breakthrough, in terms of politics, on the web in the last few years? It's basically blogs which are, generally speaking, hostile and, generally speaking, basically see their job as every day exposing how venal, stupid, mendacious politicians are.

Generally speaking, that is pretty general. Generally speaking, that is not backed up by experience. Generally speaking, that is just silly.

What is missing from Matthew's analysis is a 'however' clause. For example Matthew could have gone on to say:

However it is also true to say that blogs provide politicians with a significant opportunity to re-engage with their electorate. Blogs take the media out of the hands of the corporate world and put it into the hands of anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Politicians that seek to engage with their constituents, who are able to get almost instant feedback on local, regional or national issues are much more likely to be in a position to shape future policy in order to help meet the needs and aspirations of those they represent. Blogs offer a simple, efficient and effective means of doing this."

The truth is that there are plenty of blogs that are neither hostile nor driven by a desire to be on-line gossip columns. There are plenty of blogs that are actively entering into a dialogue with readers about how we set about shaping the political landsacpe in a modern age. I would have thought that this was something Matthew would support, indeed I would have thought that it was something he would be actively seeking to influence.

Fingers crossed for Northern Ireland

As the decision on the future of the Stormont Assembly and more importantly peace in Northern Ireland starts to draw to a crunch point, I am sure there are many who share my suspense about what will happen and have their fingers crossed. The focus on Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams may be unhelpful, the danger always being their fear of looking weak, but this week they have people’s lives in their hands so lets hope they are on the side of what is right. See more here...

I am hoping that the skills of Tony Blair and Bertie Aher will shine through and another chapter in the peace process will close and the greatest opportunity for all of us comes through. Tony Blair deserves this too, it is undoubtedly part of his impressive legacy and one of the dividing lines Labour and the Conservatives who could never take us any near as close. On this it is something Labour can be proud, but as I am sure Blair will demonstrate, not something we can stand back and enjoy but something on which we must continue to work to see its resolution. As ever with this Labour Government – lots done, lots to be done! And finally, with the talks we see the world of blogging show new frontiers as the Ulster Union Party have created one to keep people informed in the talks.

Welcome to The Progressive

Today Progress launches a new website, Progressonline, and a new blog, the Progressive. This is the first ever blog for the progressive community in Britain. On it, you'll be able to read the thoughts of our diverse team of Progress bloggers, who include grassroots Labour activists, journalists, ministers and MPs, think-tank and parliamentary researchers, as well, of course, as the staff here at Progress. They'll be writing regularly about the big policy and political issues of the day - from the world of the Westminster village to the latest thinking from wonk world. But these are just their thoughts - and it's yours we want to hear, too. If you like what you read - or, perhaps more importantly, you couldn't agree less, then here's your chance to say so by commenting on their blogs, and then returning to see what our other readers think. The Progressive belongs to all of us who care about the future of centre-left politics. Now, it's over to you ...