Interesting (and good!) to see that my piece about Prime Minister’s Questions over on Liberal Democrat Voice has generated quite a lot of comments – and, despite my general scepticism about the quality of comments on many political blogs, a good quality debate too.
Several Tories – hello Justin! hello Roger! – have joined in too, but no-one it seems from Labour. Curious that. I could understand only getting comments from Lib Dems on a Lib Dem site, but getting comments from Lib Dems, Tories and those of no apparent political party – but no obviously Labour comments – seems a bit odd. Any thoughts why?
Lynne Featherstone 
Perhaps Labour supporters are less willing to admit to being such, just like “shy Tories” used to not like admitting they were Tories in the tail end days of Major’s rule?
It could be a reflection of how weak Labour’s internet presence is generally. LabourHome is a very pale imitation of ConservativeHome, and not that good compared to Liberal Democrat Voice either. All the big readership blogs are right-wing or independent. Labour blogs hardly ever break or push a story that then gets into the mainstream media. Etc etc etc.
The Labour party’s many MPs and councillors actively blog, however, they tend to respond to criticism on their own websites. I blog on many websites, even non-party affiliation or media websites, provides you with a place to engage with a wide spectrum of political opinions. Not every opinion will be Liberal, Tory or Labour. Frankly, and probably the most constructive piece of advice to government would be, get onto the blogs, that is now where the debates and views are challenged. The television is now out of date, the internet is the new medium for political debate. That is why the Prime Minister has a weblog, petition database and other internet forums. A positive sign of senior politicians eager to debate with us all. All politicians should consider all means to communicate with the voters directly, through a political blog. The younger generations are at an age of technology, where the Ipod and internet are the central mediums for them. If you want their vote, get your voice heard through blogs and other websites.