tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post7404074898931277877..comments2024-03-28T18:33:36.687+00:00Comments on SCOT goes POP!: Political Innovation event in EdinburghJames Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01516007141763230886noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-78139568955522243122010-11-15T12:10:15.120+00:002010-11-15T12:10:15.120+00:00I think, James, it pretty well says that he sold o...I think, James, it pretty well says that he sold out to his right-wing side, which of course, was always there...just better hidden.<br /><br />The idea of power must have been too much for that part of him that actually believed in liberalism.<br /><br />Only a few short months ago, for example, he had nothing nice to say about AV, calling it "nasty" and he signed a pledge not to increase student fees.<br /><br />If he hadn't about turned on these things, would be be being called "minister" and speaking at the UN, or would he be sitting on the opposition benches, to the right of the aisle, like so many Liberal leaders before him?<br /><br />It is good that younger people are becoming engaged though. Perhaps they are seeing, in many different ways that politics really affects them all, from students to unemployed youngsters.<br /><br />It is, though, a bad example for them of coalition government and how it can be made to work.<br /><br />Pity about the lunch, haggis is yummy!! But at least the sweet was good!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-19035821717869344072010-11-15T02:09:17.303+00:002010-11-15T02:09:17.303+00:00Ah, unfortunately for me, I'm not so keen on h...Ah, unfortunately for me, I'm not so keen on haggis, but the dessert was nice!<br /><br />There were actually quite a few other interesting suggestions about raising the tone of online discussions, but some of them were quite involved and technical, and I'm not sure I entirely understood all of them. The problem with any system is that it could only ever be voluntary - there would still be a 'Wild West' of cyberspace outside its walls, so it would have to offer attractive enough benefits to draw a wide range of people in. There was a young woman at the last session I went to who said that although she blogs herself and has a boyfriend who blogs about American politics, she never looks at Scottish political blogs because they're so partisan. I know exactly what she means, but again it's the 'voluntary' problem - unlike parts of the mainstream media, the blogosphere can't really be planned with the needs of an audience in mind, it simply springs from whatever individuals feel motivated enough to write about. Perhaps cross-party group blogs might be one way forward - ie. not neutral, but all angles covered.<br /><br />One other thing that leapt out at me that I forgot to mention was someone's comment that young people are now much more likely to become politically engaged, because we now have an 'ideological government' after years of 'managerial' rule from Labour. That had never really occurred to me in those terms before - if there's a degree of truth in it, it's quite extraordinary that a two-party coalition could be more ideological than single-party Labour government, and I'm not sure what that says about the distinctiveness of Clegg-style 'liberalism' from 'conservatism'.James Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516007141763230886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-21601113237254217882010-11-14T22:11:17.662+00:002010-11-14T22:11:17.662+00:00PS... I love haggis.PS... I love haggis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-9493284196099704112010-11-14T21:53:37.647+00:002010-11-14T21:53:37.647+00:00I hope you've had some sleep by now James.
I...I hope you've had some sleep by now James. <br /><br />It sounds like an interesting conference. I wish I'd known about it, although, like you, I'm not terribly at home in participative events; my preference is to listen (although on 90 mins sleep, I'd have dropped off).<br /><br />Just a few thoughts on what you discussed.<br /><br />I think that the monitoring of blogs is a non starter. By and large you read blogs that interest you in one way or another. They contain a writer's opinions. My posts, and yours, become discussions, and if there are inaccuracies in them, then people have the opportunity to point them out. Your monitors are your readers/participants.<br /><br />I'd certainly not be interested in someone monitoring my blog for perceived mistakes.<br /><br />I think the last election in the UK proved that it was tv that was the defining factor in an election here. OK, a few people fell into the silly trap of tweeting or posting on Facebook, comments that it would have been more sensible to have left unmade. The Prime Ministerial broadcasts that will now so surely become a feature of elections seem to have it. It’s wrong because we don’t chose a Prime Minister, we choose an MP, and the mainstream parties are hell-bent on the idea that we must maintain a link between the MP and the constituency, by vetoing any proper PR, but at the same time seem determined to carry on with PM contests. The message clearly is that MPs don’t think for themselves. They think the way their leader thinks.<br /><br />I’m not sure how the SNP could go on as it is, as a single party after independence. I’m not sure what its policies would be. I certainly have friends in the party that are trendy lefties; I also have friends who are more traditional left wingers, but they want their country back; and a few who used to be Tories, but still want their own country back.<br /><br />I don’t see them sticking together once the raison d’être of the SNP has gone.<br /><br />Interesting post. Thanks for the information.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com