From @LabourList
In the final installment of LabourList's review of the year online (see the first, second and third parts) we look to the last quarter of 2009. Nick Griffin appears on the BBC Question Time, the blogosphere flexes its muscles over Trafigura and Jan Moir, the Chilcot Inquiry gets underway and Labour begins to set out its stall in the Pre Budget Report.
October
- 3rd - A row over Europe threatens to overshadow the Conservative Party conference, while Cameron is also tested on his Bullingdon Club past.
- 8th - The scheduled appearance of Nick Griffin on BBC's Question Time generates afierce debate over 'no platform' policies while others criticise those selected for the panel.
- 9th - Video footage of a clash of the bloggers emerges as Will Straw and Sunny Hundal interview Tory Bear.
- 13th - Trafigura's attempts at using a so-called 'super injunction' to censor the reporting of parliament are defeated with the help of a sustained campaign on Twitter and the blogosphere.
- 17th - Jan Moir's article on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately is roundly attacked as homphobic.
- 23rd - Nick Griffin's Question Time performance receives a mixed reception, with criticism of the BBC for altering the format.
November
- 1st - Tim Montgomerie predicts that the Tories will not offer a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
- 2nd - The sacking of government drugs adviser David Nutt by Alan Johnson creates a major row.
- 3rd - Cardiff Blogger Benny Austwick quits the Conservative Party following a run-in with a Tory staffer over Twitter posts.
- 9th - The bereaved mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan criticises Gordon Brown for an allegedly 'insensitive' letter of condolence.
- 11th - Sadie Smith calls last orders at her popular blog, while Recess Monkey returned from hiatus with its special brand of tittle tattle.
- 24th - The open sessions of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war get underway.
- 24th - Compass launches its 'In Place of Cuts' report, calling for a progressive redistribution of the tax system.
December
- 7th - The UN's Climate Change Conference gets underway in Copenhagen.
- 9th - Policies such as taxes on bankers in the Pre Budget Report are seen as drawing dividing lines between Labour and the Tories but it is criticised for a reliance on over-optimistic growth figures.
- 13th - Sacked SNP blogger Mark MacLachlan hit back at his former SNP employers in the Sunday Times, with the issue going on to take up a full ten minutes of First Minister's Questions later in the month.
- 17th - Jessica Asato's plea for Labour to apologise generates a massive 242 comments on LabourList.
- 30th - The political blogosphere debates a prospective rise in the efficacy of the left online.
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I am annoyed at the way the party have gone
Danny
If you read my other posts i only said i considered it because i despair at what has happened to the Labour party , As to dividing comunties didnt our leadership try and start aclass war? Look if the leadership dont change how can we follow? If the leadership stay the same then i might just stay at home , If i join will my views make any difference? 2 million march against Iraq , Most the voters wanted a referendum on the eu treaty, Most the voters (except the daily mail) think the welfare reforms are wrong , How will this change under the current leadership?
Danny
Happy new year
Happy new year
Many posters ask me not to vote bnp( to be honest i have no idea what will happen in the ballot box , i dont even know if i will vote) , But i ask posters this , What should a voter do when they want a centre left goverment and are confronted with the torys and new labour? if after 13 years the leadership dont understand then its a change of leadership and a change of policy or more torys ( then again if the current leadership get re-elected then its more torys anyway) , If we want to change the party from within and reclaim it where do we start?
Danny
I'm sorry, but I don't buy into the "I don't like New Labour or the Tories so that makes it okay for me to vote BNP". If you want a change of policies, join your local Labour Party and try to fight for that change, rather than electing a party that aims to divide your community. I want a centre-left government, that's why I am in the Labour Party arguing for those policies.
I would ignore this advice, all it gives you is another 5 years of the worst PM the UK has seen and the last thing you want is Mr Brown, I promise you that.
Just repeat this to yourself over and over again: "Gordon Brown, 5 more years".
I do agree with dont vote BNP though. That is wrong.
"I'm sorry, but I don't buy into the "I don't like New Labour or the Tories so that makes it okay for me to vote BNP". If you want a change of policies, join your local Labour Party and try to fight for that change, rather than electing a party that aims to divide your community. I want a centre-left government, that's why I am in the Labour Party arguing for those policies."
It is excellent.
Why has it generated so many complaints?
Happy new year from me 2010!
If I hear another word about the Bullingdon Club, I'll throw up?
David Dimbleby knows about the BC apparently.
Prepare for big swings, involving Labour, Tory, Liberals, UKIP and the BNP this year (obviously).
Look out also for a potential Tory-Lib pact with a flaky Tory government (worst scenario for all involved).
Watch whether Brighton goes 'green'.
And Barking has all the potential to produce a shocker.
No, I await the year with significant apprehension. I think the enormity of the problem will become clear soon, which will divert people from the stale discussion of the leadership which has now sadly run its course.
Bonne chance!
Well make sure you eat something then ,.
Last post
Danny
Have a good night and take care and happy new year
Danny
Good night Labourlist
You do relise that aLex will delete all the new year comment s for being off topic :)
Danny
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Danny
The right to free speech should be that , Let idiots spout there nonsense but let us here it otherwise how would we know thay where idiots?
Danny
Happy new year
Ralph
Dont be a spoilsport the fireworks are great
Happy new year
Danny
fair enough and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
the fireworks are good and with ben ben inthe backround , it has a point
Danny
Happy New year and lets hope for a peaceful decade
Danny
My Battery doesnt even charge lol
Danny
A vicar in Dagenham has my spare recharge batteries and I have to use finite ones ;(
Happy New Year!!!!!
I see you are picking up my spelling habits:)
Danny
My keyboard needs a battery change
If they cant defend themselves here what hope do we have ?
Danny
Plenty, it means they are weak and easy to replace.
I saw the mp respond ( only after he offered to donate money to labourlist, Not that he got a answer just spin), I agree in opposition this site will actully have a impact oon the leadership and will help shape policy .
Danny
I have to admit to putting him off responding as asked him some questions that would have sent him reeling. I am sorry you did not get the response you deserved, but it was down to me scaring him off.
They are not very brave....
Why did I do it. Because like you I wanted to understand the mentality of these people.
One of the tings that bugs me about this site is the lack of response from the aurthor , I always tried to answer my 3 Brilliant posts , i know that alex is doing his best to change this , But the ppc posts are the worst for answrs.
danny
When an MP responds it is a rarity, usually they don't write their own article it is done by their helpers.
Don't get too frustrated by it it's typical as many Minister and Mp's are so busy they simply do not have the time.
I can see where you are coming from though and if they actually understood the role of a site like this they would not treat it so precariously.
I have discovered labourlist to be a very potent and real weapon in politics. Shame they have not been so fast to learn.
Labourlist has a real future we need to see some technical changes but I intend to see some more investment in the site and I want Alex on a wage that merits 90+ hours work every week.
We need this site to communicate and the way things are going we are going to have an online surgery here too!
Nick griffin's defeat, should it occur will be down to this site. That is pretty awesome as no other blog site can achieve anything like this.
The destruction of a political leader by a blog site is unprecedented.
Soon this site will be recognised as an instrumental political power.
I am not sure about that , We either have free speech or censorship, We should credit the voters with the intelligence with knowing spin from facts (Lets face it they have had 20 years of pratice) .
Danny
With respect (and I mean that seriously, not in the usual sense), freedom always has responsibility attached to it. A judge, between the wars, gave an opinion that "freedom of speech does not give a man the right to shout fire in a crowded cinema."
I have to say that the intelligence that you credit to voters is just not merited, for a myriad of reasons. How many voters do you know who take the trouble to look at economic facts, especially tables C16 and C17, presented in the Budget every year? Have you looked at Tables C16 and C17 and worked things out for yourself?
How many voters take the trouble to find out for themselves the number of patient episodes, operations, MRI, CT and ultrasonic scans and so on now carried out in the NHS, compared with 1997?
They don't. They believe - because it reinforces their prejudices, whether Tory or "Old Labour" - what they read in newspapers (and that includes the bl**dy Guardian).
Find the facts for yourself - that's what I always try to do. "Spin" is a cliche.
Danny, there is no doubt in my mind that your heart lies with Labour. I've only been a member for five years, and I've learnt that that the most critical and miserable people in the world are (some) Labour Party members (mind you, the Tories have the same problem with their "far right" element).
I'm not asking you to forget Labour's mistakes since 1997 - just don't dwell on them ; what I would like to see is some positive thought and contributions on Labour's achievments ....
I was stunned by the reaction of Richard Blogger today. Add to that the threat of another insane vain war....
How much is necessary to sacrifice to compensate for the stupidity of those who should be dealing with all this effectively?
I am cool on giving up between six months to five years unpaid but there are limits!
Do I have to give up everything to challenge the status quo is there nobody else willing to do so for the interests of the Labour Party?
Where are all these new PPC's? Where is their idealism?
Just a thought on the Jane moir Piece, Is it being castergated for being insensivtie ? Yes , But , is it illeagel? It shouldnt be , while i read it (and found distastful) , I belive that the author should have the right to say what she/he thinks , If we cloe down debate then we close down parliment .
Danny
Ps Yes i know i am going to get stick for this comment
No stick from me.
"Free speech" is much abused. It should always have both facts and rational argument as a base.
Jan Moir's infamous article was nothing more, nothing less, than "dog-whistling."
Thanks :)
And Thanks Alex for editing it and correcting the typos and posting it
Danny
I got the bnp post on the last review wrong then , So many , The hypocrsy on scientists was intresting (drugs v Global warming) , My Post on homelessness was outstanding :) , The Iraq Inquiry was intresting the debates in the house and Mr Clegg Claiming it was riddled with get outs. A intresting end to the decade .
Danny