Likeable Labour MP, Tom Harris, blogs in defence of the House of Commons. He contrasts "courteous", "polite" Parliament, with the "hate" filled blogosphere. Ummm...
Without wanting to offend Mr Harris, I'm not sure he's got it entirely right. The blog may be brash, and very occasionally boorish. Yet, sites like this show that it works. If only we could say the same for Parliament. No matter how polite the Honourable Members might be, Parliament is monumentally useless at holding those with real executive power to account. The self-regarding Westminster elite might not get it, but the disaffected electorate seem to. As a legislature, the Commons today is supine and spineless. The green benches need to find some of the passion, authenticity and verve that exist on-line. Instead of defending the faux rituals of their “gentlemen’s club”, MPs need to use the internet to make themselves more directly accountable. Even if that means having people say unpleasant things about you very occasionally...