When we think about blogging and the development of human interactions through the web, it is easy to assume some kind of historical determinism. The Internet is one huge sandbox, with new blogs and campaigning sites being launched all the time. Most peter out (I’ve been involved in a couple of those myself) but others persist, and grow. This trial-and-error approach suggests that we are at least inching towards a more sophisticated and empowering blogosphere, which exercises more influence over politics and therefore the direction this country is headed.

The Blog Nation event earlier this week raised some of the key issues that the Left needs to answer in order to become more effective online. As I crouched in the front row of the event, rubbing my temples and trying to think of answers, the following thought occurred to me: What if this is all there is? By which I mean, perhaps it is impossible to become much more organized. I refrained from articulating this thought at the time, but it did seem a deft, if nihilistic way of avoiding giving an answer to some of the questions posed, above. Perhaps there is no historical determinism to any of this, and we are not destined to develop anything significantly more efficient than what we have now.

Now I don’t know whether I really believe things to be so hopeless, but if its true it may not be such a bad thing. Rather than grandiose ideas of the blogosphere become some kind of Fifth Estate, perhaps we should aspire to nothing more than another tool for the people to use in checking the power of the elite (both elected representatives and others who hold positions of influence).

Of course we should ask how existing bloggers and activists can work better together, but that is just oiling the machine, rather than inventing a new one. A more important focus is to try to increase access to the new information and opinion that is appearing online. Just as increasing literacy strengthens democracy and promote equality, so computer literacy can strengthen it too. So, my suggestion for the next open source campaign - introduce one relative, friend or colleague to blogging each month. This need not mean forcing them to set up their own blog. Instead, just a gentle explanation of the power of RSS, and the suggestion that they bookmark one - just one - of the fine sites listed here.

Ever so slightly longer version cross posted at my own corner.

The Green party has put forward a candidate in the by-election against David Davis. Left of David Davis? Check. A left / progressive candidate? Check. Wants to push for even more civil liberties? Check. So the Labour and lefty bloggers must be rising up in support? Erm… well, there’s Neil Harding… and a lot of tumbleweed rolling by.

[update: non-Greens support also from: peezedtee, Dave Cole, Stuart Jefferey, Socialist Unity, Unbeliever, Pamphlet Labour]

Yes, it really does look like many lefties really will cut off their noses to spite their face on this issue. Well, I’m not sitting here praying David Davis fails miserably because the outcome would a vindicated Gordon Brown willing to push it through with the Parliament Act if the Lords reject the 42 days bill as expected.
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Yesterday around 80-90 people met up at our first Blog Nation, held at the Guardian newsroom in London. Here are some pictures…
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An editor at a paper asked a question the other day - given that in all likelihood Labour was going to be out of power at the next General Election, how was the left going to get used to being out of power. And how would bloggers react?

It’s an interesting question. I think there are a series of questions we should be thinking about now.

• Once New Labour goes out of power, it will be enveloped in furious infighting to resolve its future direction. What part can bloggers play in influencing the narratives and supporting various groups (factions?).
• Can the web be used to build grass-roots activism? Isn’t that the future of the liberal-left when a right-wing government is in power?
• How can we facilitate and have the discussions about taking the liberal-left forward?

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Word reaches me that the New Statesman editors have been looking for a candidate to run against David Davis in the by-election.

You may already be aware that today New Labour announced they wouldn’t stand anyone against Davis. Part of the problem apparently was that the Labour PPC for the area himself was against the 42 days.

Yesterday I was told that New Statesman magazine has been actively looking for someone to stand to the left of David Davis on a platform of even more civil and social liberty.

Its not clear whether they’ve found someone yet. The current edition will go to print today or tomorrow and we’ll know when it hits the news stands.
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Some years ago now the former BBC journalist and Liberal Democrat activist Mike Smithson decided to start a blog for pleasure and profit. The story of Political Betting is undoubtedly one of the successes of the British blogosphere - but it also provides a cautionary tale for those who suppose that the internet itself is politically neutral.

Yuri Andropov, briefly boss of the Soviet Union in the 1980s, and before that its chief ideologist, believed that the personal computer represented a definitive break, or step-change, in the means of production whose effect would be to destroy socialism. And there can be no doubt that, at least in Britain, the energy of political blogging is with the political Right.

It’s easy and comfortable to think that this is simply because we have an exhausted Labour government - once Labour’s back in its natural home of opposition, left blogging will bloom and the internet become the capillary system of a new progressive politics. For me, Political Betting suggests otherwise.
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Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that I have recruited additional writers to help me with the daily web review.

I have personally compiled the daily web review since Liberal Conspiracy was launched last year. I’ve very much enjoyed it, but I’m also keen to bring a fresh perspective to the review, and I’m sure that the bloggers I have assembled will do just that. You’ll probably know them from their contributions to the comments, but I’d like to introduce them nevertheless ::
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Yup, it’s our first opportunity to stick one up at Boris Johnson. Since BoJo is banning drinking on the tube from 1st June, it has been suggested by various people (ok, bloggers mostly) that we get together for an almighty piss-up on the 31st of May. It also happens to be a Saturday, which is handy.

A tube-crawl then? Various Liberal Conspirators are already up for this… if any readers want to join us then email me and I’ll let you know where and when. Suggestions for venues gratefully received too.

Update
I should have been clearer. This tube-crawl is primarily for Liberal Conspirators, readers and contributors. Not random Facebookers. Hence I haven’t made it part of another event.

Update 2
Sadie has asked whether we’ll be going around on the Circle Line or drinking in one place. I think we can do both. Legally. But, apparently, she’ll be part of the rowdy crowd. Let’s not do a Guido, yeah? :)

Writers from English PEN are protesting agains Tesco’s action in Thailand as an attack on freedom of speech. Tesco doesn’t care.

As you would have noticed already, the colour scheme has changed further over the last week. For that you can thank Jennie’s “pus and blood scheme” comment which, if a bit stark, was quite apt I thought. I realise the Libcon look and feel is still a bit inconsistent and I’m working on that. Suggestions always welcome.

I should have announced this earlier but… I’m pleased to announced that Alix Mortimer, Mat Bowles and Laurie Penny have joined as regular contributors. There’s more changes to the LC contributors coming, but I’m currently in the process of launching our next campaign (more tomorrow hopefully) so am busy with that.

Lastly, (and this is for the computer geeks only) I’ve enabled WP-Cache for this blog because the front page layout makes more database queries than a normal blog would. My only problem is that the ‘Recent Comments’ tab on the right doesn’t update when cacheing is enabled. Anyone know how I can still keep that dynamic?

Looks like the conservatives are also getting organised.

CentreRight.com is a hub for the British conservative movement.

Like the National Review’s Corner in the US, it is essentially a high quality, multiple-authored blog written by some of the best conservative thinkers and commentators around. It replaces our Columnists section which just had seven people on set days of the week. Also like the Corner it doesn’t take comments from readers, although this will be subject to review.

hat/tip Leon.

The climate change denial blog has an interesting post from Roman Krznaric entitled ‘Does The Left Really Believe in Climate Change’. Krznaric recounts his attendance at a leftist conference on Latin America that he attended last year in London. He recounts that not only did none of the speakers mention climate change as a factor to be considered in Latin American politics, but support for Chavez in Venezuela appears to condone his reliance on oil to fund the ‘Bolivarian revolution’.

Krznaric says that

I can’t help concluding that the Progressive Left doesn’t yet really believe in climate change.

He gives the following reasons for this:

One factor concerns hope. For the first time in years there is a sense of hope about Latin America amongst the Progressive Left. Neoliberalism is in retreat and left-leaning governments are being elected throughout the region. Chavez is challenging the US and the multinationals, and having an impact on poverty reduction. Bolivia has its first indigenous President. But none of this, I believe, is an excuse for ignoring climate change.

A second factor is that many activists and policy-makers continue to keep human development issues separate from what they think of as ‘environmental’ issues. If you are interested in tackling poverty in the favelas of Rio, it is quite normal not even to consider that climate change is a related issue. I think there is a real need for development agencies and activists on the one hand, and environmentally-oriented organisations and campaigners on the other, to merge their thinking to create a new Ecological Humanism, so that climate change and social justice are considered interdependent issues.

A third, possibly deeper factor, is psychological denial. As individuals, we have an extraordinary capacity to shut our minds to the realities of issues that we think are frightening or insurmountable. Climate change is one of them. The good news is that people in rich countries are starting to overcome their denial and accept that climate change is not only happening, but will change their own lives, and that they have to adapt to and embrace the changes. The bad news is that most of them remain in denial when it comes to the world’s poorest countries. As a recent Oxfam report points out, the rich world is sorely lagging behind in its response to the need for developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change link..

The time has come for us to take our struggle against denial a stage further, and recognise that climate change is a reality not only for ourselves, but for the world’s poorest people in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions.

This article is absolutely right that in many left wing and liberal circles, climate change is nowhere near higher enough up the agenda. It’s also right to skewer the neo-Bolivarians for their short-termist relianceon petrodollars. But I can’t help thinking that the source of the problem isn’t so much denial or the other reasons Krznaric gives, so much as a more intractable problem with politics itself.

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Hello! As Christmas is nearly upon us and I will go AWOL from the weekend until the new year, I thought an update may be warranted. I’ve been in Los Angeles for the past week so maintaining the Conspiracy has been somewhat difficult.

So firstly, a happy Christmas and New Years to all of those of you who celebrate. I’m expecting a whole load of presents so of course I celebrate!

Secondly, I have somewhat ambitious plans to expand Liberal Conspiracy in the new year and thanks to all of you have emailed in their comments and suggestions. There are two off-shoot blogs planned - one covering right-wing bias in the media (incl the BBC) and another covering trade-union news (sadly neglected in our mainstream media). There will be more debates, campaigns and input from people not used to blogging too.

The Facebook campaign against extending the 28 days period has attracted an amazing 3,500 people so far, which is brilliant. We would still encourage people to join and sign the Amnesty petition. I am also looking for volunteers to help find out which Labour MPs oppose this legislation. Please get in touch if you can make a few calls as part of this campaign.

The new year will also bring more coverage of the US elections on LC. I’ll be here until after the Iowa Caucus anyway; plus Aaron and Garry are keen followers among others. This is also the theme adopted by the Fabians for their yearly conference and its secretary-general (and LC contributor) Sunder Katwala has started a blog exploring The World After Bush.

I’m sure there will be ongoing updates by other contributors over the next fortnight but Aaron and I are taking a well-deserved break. Have a good one!

What do you think the word ‘liberal’ means?

Perhaps if you are American, you are thinking of what Europeans call social democrats. Maybe some Europeans think of it as some kind of wishy-washy centrism that can’t decide between left and right. In certain countries it may have something to do with a pro-business approach. If you’re Australian it probably means the same as conservative.

A pre-condition of liberalism might be the existence of free markets. Or maybe liberalism is to do with equality of some kind or another. Animal rights? Environmentalism? [insert trendy cause here]? Smith, Mill or Kant? Etc, etc. It seems to me that the word ‘liberal’ is about as useful as words like ‘that’ and ‘thingy’.

As such, it wasn’t really a surprise that Liberal Conspiracy provoked some debate about the nature of liberalism when it was launched a month or so back. “My liberalism is more liberal than yours” and that type of thing.
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The Contact and Events sections are now working properly. I had a coding problem that came down to the version of PHP we were using (oh, the pain). If there are any relevant events you’d like to list, please use the form. Cheers.

<shameless plug>on Sunday, Radio 4’s Westminster Hour had a special supplement on Power and the Web, presented by Spectator editor Matthew D’ancona. Though I briefly feature near the end, the programme is worth listening to despite the damage I may do to your ears. The second part goes out Sunday December 2 at 10.45pm and will mention Liberal Conspiracy.</shameless plug>

Now I don’t mean to be rude, but would you liberals just shut up a minute? I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I believe a blog site really can help to bring together and reinvigorate the liberal-left in Britain. But only if it addresses what is not being addressed elsewhere. I, for one, do not need yet another bookmark leading me to yet another argument beginning with the letters L, I and B. Not on libertarianism, liberalism, liberal interventionism, liberties or Liberace.

It’s not that these things aren’t important - they are. It is just that they are well covered elsewhere. The ‘left’ side of the liberal-left equation meanwhile, is feeling a little less loved. I know this site isn’t into tight definitions, but ideological theory aside, I’d like to offer a very personal interpretation of what it means to be of the left. Leftism is about fighting injustice. It is about remembering those who are forgotten, and giving strength to those who are weak. It is about taking sides - and taking action - with the oppressed. It is about giving solidarity. I see very little of that on the blogosphere. It seems to me that the liberal-left online is very big on liberty, but - to borrow from our neighbours - not so big on equality and fraternity.

Is the prospect of tens of thousands of council workers facing devastating pay cuts and upheavals in conditions under the Single Status reforms not worth a thread or two? Not even when thousands of workers in Birmingham are about to walk out on strike? How about (with apologies to CiF readers) the sacking of Karen Reissmann or the impending and shameful deportation of Christian Mbianga. Just maybe, once in a while a despotic regime might think twice about hauling a returned deportee in for ‘questioning’ if they are aware that hundreds or thousands of media-savvy bloggers are on their case. Why not? The same principle has kept Amnesty going for 45 years while the recent case of the Iraqi interpreters showed that the spirit for this type of action is there.

Bloggers could be reporting the fate of the refugees still here but denied benefits; investigating companies and gangmasters that are daily endangering and exploiting vulnerable migrant workers. We’re quite capable of digging up and publishing invoices that refer to the killing of a political party, but not those that refer to the killing of workers.

Of course there are websites that cover most of these issues. For example: the Socialist Worker,Socialist Unity, Indymedia, SchNews and Libcom. However infuriating or amusing we normals might find the factionalism, sectarianism, syndicalism, dogmatism and utopianism of the Marxist and anarchist lefts, they do at least sometimes raise issues that the rest of us too often forget.

Kate Belgrave made a great start here last week but there is so much more bloggers could be doing. We need to look where others are not looking, think what others are not thinking. We shouldn’t just learn a lesson from those to the right of us. We can learn a lesson from those to the left of us, too. Of course as a liberal-left blogger, I am as guilty as anyone. I spend far too much time responding to the headlines in the mainstream media rather than seeking to change them.

I’ll make an effort to put that right. Will You?

The launch of Liberal Conspiracy has sparked an exciting debate in the British blogosphere this week. From philosophical questions over what it means to be liberal-left and confusing liberal with libertarian; an aversion to our comments policy; worrying we might not be left enough; tentative support; lots of outright support; and even wondering if this is a conspiracy against the Libdems!

I think while all these debates are interesting, they are not the real focus of why I’m here. In an article for the Guardian published today, I challenge the liberal-left:

There are new projects in the pipeline from the Tory party itself. CampaignTogether, billed as the Conservative volunteer task force, is being used to galvanise activists online during elections; Stand Up Speak Up seeks to encourage voters to feed into the party manifesto.

All this may so far have had little impact on the wider electorate, but it illustrates that the right is miles ahead in experimenting with the web to engage. And it is more than experimentation: the right is also marching together to shift the political agenda. Conservative bloggers constantly link to each other and promote editorials in publications such as the Spectator and the Telegraph. They are amplified by an online TV station - 18 Doughty Street - and fellow rightwing hacks; they disseminate online ads, videos and Tory views relentlessly. It is a formidable echo machine. And all this despite the enduring paranoia that the right is drowned out by a vast leftwing conspiracy on everything from abortion and climate change to immigration.

But this is about more than party politics. The liberal-left, broadly, risks making little headway on core issues because of a painful lack of coalition building. It is characterised by single-issue groups working in isolation, denouncing each other over spurious issues and with little cross-campaigning and exchange of ideas. They’ve become fixated with demanding more legislation rather than shifting minds and conversations. There are simple questions to be asked. What is the liberal-left agenda for tomorrow? How can we then push that forward and make politicians listen?

This is way more than simply party tribalism - this is about ideology. Are you on left or right? Are you liberal or conservative? If you’re the former on both then it’s time to get organised and work together to re-engage people and seize the political agenda. I’m sick of all the infighting, I want to challenge the conservative dominance on the web and the move away from an explicitly progressive agenda by a Labour government.

Are there wedge issues? Plenty. We need to challenge the Conservative assault on abortion rights, their continuing love for Enoch Powell, denial of global warming, paranoia over immigration and so on.

And here’s the annoying thing: this intellectual malaise affects not just the right but also the left, especially on immigration and race-politics.

Yes we want to have a robust intellectual debate within the liberal-left. But we also need to challenge the echo chamber of the Tories online. Not because they’re intellectual visionaries - Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes get media attention simply because they gossip about Westminster - but because they’re effective at packaging and echoing bad ideas.

The focus on campaigning will come soon enough. For now it’s important we nail our colours to the mast, get conversations going and talk about issues the MSM is ignoring. That liberal conspiracy they keep saying is all-powerful, we actually need to build one.

Jonathan Calder sounds a bit miffed we don’t have any explicitly Libdem bloggers on our roster. James Graham picked this up too yesterday. I’ll happily put up my hands and admit we aren’t representing them well enough, primarily because I approached people on the basis of their liberal-left outlook rather than political affiliations. Even Natalie Bennett, who is a Green Party candidate, was approached on that basis.

Unlike some of our more partisan contributors, this collective as a whole does not have an explicit policy to support Labour, the Libdems or even the Conservatives (you never know, classic purge might be in order *grin*). That said, more representation may be necessary though our editorial policy should focus more on ideals and policies than being too obsessed by parties or just Westminister generally.

The feline variety is a good analogy for bloggers it seems. Getting them to come together is either like trying to herd cats, or they will end up fighting like cats in a sack.

Some of the sceptics say that having a stringent comments policy and bringing together just liberal-lefties will quickly turn this place into an echo chamber with little dissent. On the other hand the left does have a reputation for violent in-fighting and sectarianism and many of our other readers have said this place won’t last long with all the in-fighting and arguments.

The answer lies somewhere in the middle. This project isn’t dedicated to a particular political party; it is focused on pushing broad liberal-left-progressive ideals.
Fellow conspirator Chris Dillow sums it up when he says:

The left, following Rawls, gives greater weight to its impact upon the worst-off than does the right. And this is one reason why leftism and liberalism go together. One reason why I oppose infringements of civil liberties - drug laws, control orders or stop & search powers - is that these bear most heavily upon the poor and powerless.

And that cuts to the heart of why this projects exists. Now we need to figure out where we go from here, given the basics are mostly in place. We need a progressive, forward-looking and positive vision for our country and our politicians are not only incapable of providing it but they don’t even seem bothered about that lack of vision.

To some extent I actually value disagreement here because we need a robust discussion on where and how this country goes from here. There isn’t a party line, there is only a shared narrative - that we broadly identify with shared values and want to figure out how to promote them.

Are we being tribalist? I think Dave Hill addressed that well yesterday.

Readers too young to have grown up in small town England in the Sixties and Seventies as I did - or most other parts of Britain in that era – may not appreciate how much they owe social liberalism and the best of the political left for nourishing these admirable changes. It won’t help that those changes are so vehemently resented in some quarters.

This resentment lies behind the right’s successful insinuation into everyday conversation – even into the mouths of BBC reporters – of the term “political correctness” and conservative commentariat’s repeated bleating that “the feminists” and multiculturalism (whatever they think it means) have “gone too far” and that “we” are “not allowed” to have “an honest debate” about immigration because of – you guessed! – “political correctness”.

The “militant” comments policy is there to ensure we can actually have a civilised discussion as opposed to being plagued by drive-by commenters only interested in throwing out sarcastic remarks and de-railing perfectly good discussions. I don’t make any apologies for it, you are welcome to scream at us on your own blog.

Saying all that, I am very gratified that so many of you thought this was a long-overdue project.
Thanks to: OurKingdom, bagrec, Mike Ion, Cabalamat, Chris Brooke, Jimjay, Westmonster, Simon Dickson, Jockcoats, Tampon teabag, Insomniac, Tim Ireland, Andrew Brown, Matt Wardman, Clive Davis, Septicisle and Leon Green. Mike Power even has a button, and James Graham has a good perspective.

Media coverage:
I was interviewed on Radio 4’s PM programme yesterday evening, which you can listen to from here along with a response from Guido Fawkes.
I was also interviewed for Five Live’s Pods and Blogs, which should go up later tonight.

I’ve written an article for the Guardian which should be published later this week.

On 18 Doughty Street’s Blogger TV yesterday evening, which I was invited on to, the Tories were surprisingly supportive of the project. They pointed out quite reasonably that Conservatives also went through a similar painful period before some learnt the painful art of coalition building and forged ahead. Interesting times lie ahead.

Regular blogging begins tomorrow.