Email “too easy”

I was just listening to Jon Ronson’s piece for Radio 4 about how writing to MPs via email is apparently deemed to be irrelevant and that, unsurprisingly the No. 10 Petitions are ignored. The thing that struck me was that it took a while for radio to be adopted as a tool by politicians. Why should it be surprising that the Internet should be viewed with equal suspicion by politicians?

Ultimately, like a lot of technology someone comes along who has grown up with it and uses it instinctively as part of their lives. You have kind of already seen this in the Obama presidential campaign (although far from perfect). You see it with computer games and social networking.

No-one thinks that an MP’s office shouldn’t have a phone or a fax but you wouldn’t send them a telegram. So let the Luddites pour scorn on web constituents, someone else will probably value the votes.

Health & Safety Madness

If your insurance premium is set by your insurer; and accident compensation is set by the courts; how is the Health and Safety Executive stopping your village fete?!

Kirsty Allsop located in alternative universe

Kirsty Allsop, property matron, contributed a unintentionally hilarious moment to the otherwise tedious ING Direct newsletter I receive solely because they want me to take out a mortgage with them. During a self-serving rant about HIPS Kirsty charmingly declared in an outraged tone that the government would never dare interfere with professions such as teaching or doctors as they have so shamelessly interfered with property “professions”.

Presumably she would also be in favour of nationalising estate agents to ensure that their independence would never again be so threatened.

Local May Elections

I have been struggling to decide who to vote for this year. Obviously for tribal reasons I can't go Tory even though I think the current Conservative counciller is probably a good guy. That narrows down to whether I should vote for the Liberals, Greens or Labour.

Camden (currently Labour) is a pretty hotly contented seat and seems a likely canididate to swing given the current discontent with the Parliamentary government. However using local elections to send a national message is a losing game. Councillers probably affect your day to day quality of life more than any other politician and living with a protest vote for two years is something you can really come to regret.

In the end it was the Labour leaflet that persuaded me how to cast my votes. The Liberals run Islington and the Torys run Westminster. Can I live with two years of either of those?