LabourList

LabourList is up and running; it is the latest attempt by the Labour party to embrace the internet/blogging revolution. It is difficult to get too excited about the site, unless you happen to be Derek Draper, and for the record, I’d agree with pretty much everything DK has to say on the matter. But I would expand on a couple of points.

Firstly, the roster of writers is not just dull, it is a firm indicator of what this website is going to be like. Any roster of writers that includes Peter fucking Mandelson is going to be anything other than neutral and objective. Make no mistake about it, this website will be part of the Nu Labour propaganda machine, whatever it might claim to the contrary.

Which leads nicely onto the second point – their comments policy – which shows that the transition to banning anything that does not back the Nu Labour line is happening right now. Because Derek Draper is apparently responding to demands (well, three of them) for tighter comment moderation:

Clearly there are those who want to use this site to interrogate Labour people (usually me!) about our policies. There is nothing wrong with that, in principle, of course. The question is whether a few people are acting as trolls and getting in the way of the kind of Labour-minded (albeit questioning) community we are trying to build here.

Personally, I love the idea of their being nothing wrong with questioning “in principle”. The rough translation of that means there is nothing wrong with questioning as long as the questions (1) aren’t too difficult to answer and (2) are in line with whatever flaccid platitudes pass as Nu Labour ideology and policy in this day and age. If your questions fall outside of that, then you aren’t going to be able to comment:

"In order to ensure an insightful, engaging debate we will also place other comments judged to be grossly unintelligent or obtuse or trolls in our trash can."

And there’s the problem – it comes down to personal judgement. Or, to put it another way, Draper’s judgement. And something tells me that Draper’s judgement will be that any comments that don’t follow the Nu Labour line will be deemed unintelligent and obtuse. Therefore, any debate or dissension will be heading to the trash can.

The best blogs are those that allow the publication of dissenting opinion. That way debate can be sparked off and the writers of blog posts will be forced to reconsider and defend their views. If you start deleting comments on the basis of thinking them unintelligent and/or obtuse, you are going to radically cut back on the debate. It is natural to think that those you don’t agree with are unintelligent or obtuse. But it is also personal opinion. After all, if I was deciding what was obtuse and unintelligent, then just about everything written by Derek Draper would be heading towards the trashcan.

Even Terry Kelly allows for the printing of (some) dissenting opinion on his blog, which puts LabourList in the unenviable position of being less democratic that Kelly’s website – before it even officially launches. They’ll be no real debate at LabourList; it is or will become very soon part and parcel of the Labour government; a government that despises debate and lusts after complete control. It is tempting to set up a LabourList Watch style website right now, just to point out the numerous flaws of this site and watch the transition of this website from being an independent site to being part of the Nu Labour media machine. Because as the comments moderation policy already shows, that journey is well and truly underway.