It's groundhog day again as Alan Milburn returns to the fold which means of course he is set to be another contributor to the new New Labour blog offering which is LabourListThis is allegedly the creme de la creme of Labour bloggers but of course its roll-call is overwhelmingly neo-liberal.
I probably would not have a problem with that - hardly a surprise - if it didn't claim to be an exciting new venture which will engage all Labour-supporting bloggers "at every level." Fact is that it another top-down initiative minus dissent and real debate which seems both unnecessary and a little dull.
We can already read Luke Akehurst's denouncements of the left on his blog - LabourHome is a far more eclectic mix of views from across the whole political spectrum. So is Liberal Conspiracy. Conclusion? I really don't see the point. And can anyone tell me what happened to the equally trumpeted Alan Milburn/ Charles Clarke initiaitve 20/20 Vision? I predict the same fate for this blog which seems to be living in a parallel universe in which it is 1997 .Its self-congratulatory tone is also regrettable.
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3 comments:
I think it's best to engage with something like this and give it the benefit of the doubt in the first instance. There are a few centrish and leftish people who are apparently going to be contributing.
The set-up looks a bit like a Comment is Free type of thing, which could be okay, but of course what makes Comment is Free worth looking over is that you get a variety of opinions, and I think that will be a challenge for LabourList.
I'm not convinced, yet, that it adds a lot to what already exists. I know it's not meant to be in competition with Labourhome but it's inevitable that we'll make comparisons. If we get regular columns from Ken Livingstone, Peter Mandelson, etc. (and hopefully some other names to follow) then it is something different from Labourhome (though of course they could all post there, like John Prescott does).
Presumably one idea for it is for it to have more editorial direction than Labourhome, but I'm not at all convinced that'll turn out to be in its favour.
But we shall see. In the first instance, I recommend engaging with it and seeing how it reacts!
Get involved Susan. Lets see how open to debate and criticism this LabourList is. I personally dont see it as an alternative to LabourHome but relish the oppurtunity to experience the debate. LabourList seems to tolerate a load of Tory trolls so far
Ian
I agree with your view that LabourList is sadly lacking. I have referenced your blog in my most recent blog entry about LabourList.
You can read the entry here:
http://maryhoneyballmep.blogspot.com/2009/01/labour-missed.html
Best wishes,
Mary
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