THE X FACTOR

I wonder whether blogging is in serious decline with the advent of Twitter. my guess is Yes.
As a recent arrivee in the twitosphere it was fascinating to jon in the virtual conversation as Labour twitters waited for news of the Shadow Cabinet appointments.
The collective gasp of horror as it became clear AJ was to be SC happened in real time - and it was what the internet is about. Increasingly.
I try not to tweet about what I had for breakfast but I love the challenge of encapsulating something in 140 words. Too many bloggers on the left write reams and reams which no-one is going to read . Twitter proves that less can be more which is why so many are getting involved.
It also gives you immediate access to all kinds of people - you just keep on adding.
This week is an important one. It's Ed Miliband's first PMQs and there will be no mercy from a media hell-bent on political destruction.
It also sees the debate in Parliament of John McDonnell's trade union Bill and a major TUC lobby at Westminster. I will be following all these events with interest.
It is now clear the real Shadow Chancellor will be ...Ed Miliband.
He is to share an office with Johnson who is basically a front-man. How, given his lack of economic skills, could he be anything else.
Most i know in the Labour Party were very disappointed by the appointment however, in Machiavellian terms, it makes some sense.
Despite the doe eyes, Ed M is a ruthless operator and the Tories will be threatened by a Shadow Cabinet which reflects far more a broader spectrum in terms of gender and race than they could dream of.Politically, it is very similar to what went before
However, Diane Abbott has been given a Junion Ministerla post in Public Health and I hear there may be jobs for Emily Thornberry and Karen Buck.No doubt I will find out quickest on Twitter.
In the meantime it is a glorious Sunday afternoon in West Yorkshire and I am off for a walk down the canal to enjoy the autumn sunshine and a Sunday lunch with friends.