lord of the blog

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Response to Colleen

Colleen. I do have my doubts about some of the conclusions but as I have not read the report in full yet I cannot be specific at this stage. I hope to be soon and will probably speak in the debate when it comes to the House. I will then post my comments.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Responses

Response to Ben Franklin's comment. Ben, There is nothing libelous in this. I know Lord Wakeham well and we have often had major disputes particularly about the media and his contacts with it.

The allegation is a straight forward political one. He and the Conservative members of that Committee outwitted the Labour and Liberal members - it's as simple as that! I doubt some of the reports conclusions but my main point here is that by releasing it early and tipping of the Daily Mail he ensured really good coverage (from a Tory point of view) of the immigration debate. So they scored! I don't like it but I have to accept it - that's politics and it happens in other walks of life too. I just feel that people ought to know about it which is why I blog.

If I had tried to get a story in the Daily Mail about this they would be highly unlikely to print it. I Know this from many experiences. Remember many newspapers have political agendas too. I started blogging because I wanted a direct form of communication with the public. I have often written about and spoken about the way the media and politics interact - and it is not always helpful to the public.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Playing politics in the Lords

Much of the work of the Lords does cross party boundaries and party political contests are far less pronounced than in the Commons. It does however happen - and sometimes it is very clever.

The Economic Affairs Select Committee produced a rather contentious report on migration this week. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldeconaf.htm

It received massive coverage in the media with the Daily Mail in the lead with several pages of comment and analysis. The Mail had a copy of the report in advance. Normally these reports are given to the press one day in advance unless it is given on Friday for Monday.

My contacts in the Mail (I am eternally grateful for the inside information I get from journalists and some managers within the media) tell me they had the report in plenty of time to write it up with the political slant that you expect in the Mail.

This is where we need some declarations of interest. The chairman of the Economic Affairs Select Committee is Lord Wakeham. Lord Wakeham was the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and a chief whip for the Tory Party in the Commons. Paul Dacre is the editor of the Daily Mail and is a central figure in the Press Complaints Commission. The two worked very closely together.

The media and politics do have rather closer relationships then the public are aware of at times. I just think an occasional reminder of cosy relationships is useful!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Intergovernmental Organisations Select Committee

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Lords they are a blogging!

After many trials and tribulations the Lords have got a blog site - thanks to the Hansard Society and the Lords Library and Information Department (and me!)

The following will appear on the Guardian 'Comment is free' site on Monday.

In 2003 I started a blog as an MP. I regarded it as a success and it certainly attracted some interesting debates.

It was important for me because it enabled me to talk direct to people without first finding a media outlet. I saw it as a meeting room without walls. There are problems for an elected representative however. The more successful your blog is the more time consuming – and time matters for MP’s! You also have to decide whether to answer all the points or just those from constituents or just let the blog run itself with occasional inputs from the MP

Over the last 12 months I have let my blog http://clivesoleymp.typepad.com/ drift into gentle decline with only occasional posts. But down in the Westminster forest something was stirring. I had talked to the Hansard Society and to the House of Lords Library and Information department. The result? A new Lordsoftheblog http://www.lordsoftheblog.net/ has emerged blinking into the daylight! The Hansard Society has been a good midwife!

Nine Lords are participating and I think that number will grow. The idea is, in effect, a group blog. We all make (hopefully!) two posts a week and no doubt each Peer will decided how and when to respond to comments. I hope it will give people a greater insight into the working of the House of Lords and enable Peers to inform people of their views and their actions, their votes and their policy aims.

MP’s and Peers need to find new ways of engaging with the public. A blog is not the complete answer to the feeling of alienation from the political system that many feel today but it is part of the answer. In the 1950’ trade unions and the church played a bigger role in informing people about their political rights and duties. That has gone and the conventional media has been unable to replace it.

There is no shortage of opinion today – almost everyone with access to the internet can have their shout but Peers and MP are legislators and what they think and do is more than opinion – it is also news. So we now have one more way of telling people what we are doing and why. Hopefully it will also give the public a chance to talk to us more directly even if we can’t promise to answer all their comments or to do everything they would like us to do.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

responses

Lords of the Blog. We are still at the testing stage but there are six Lords involved at this stage. Two Labour, two Liberals, one Tory and one cross bencher.

Prevention of Terrorism Act. I did resign over the old PTA when we didn't vote against the exclusion orders. At the same time I  resigned from the front bench. I was spokesman on Northern Ireland. We then had further discussions in the Parliamentary Labour Party and shortly after that I was re-appointed and we voted against on all subsequent occasions until exclusion orders were dropped and other changes were made of the type I referred to in my liberty article in Guardian on line.

Altogether a successful resignation I think!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Civil liberty

I wrote the following article for the comment page of the Guardian following various attempts to claim that we are less free than in the past. This article gives a different view.

As they had recently run articles on this issue they decided another right now was not needed but suggested it should go on the comment is free site. I agreed to this so now you can read it twice!

Follow the link below.

Continue reading "Civil liberty"

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Defence

The Conservatives were trying to have their cake and eat it today! They wanted less pressure on the armed forces but wouldn't say whether they would cut committments or increase the size of the armed forces.

Follow the link for the question

Continue reading "Defence"

Future of this blog

Finally there is agreement to set up a Lords of the Blog site. Details will be announced within the month!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Message for Will

Will.

You sent a comment on Heathrow that I am happy to publish but I am being warned that some of the links might cause problems. Can you send it again without the links?