Yes we can...dance

I think you should put out a health warning with this. I clicked to watch it and it put me off my lunch.

Canvas,
You raise some valid points. I myself have been a little...hesitant in this media/modern/fashion situation. On the one hand political parties want to be trendy and gain the hearts and votes of the young, on the other hand the majority population of Brit are elderly and are worth more to them. If you are going to create a "hip" political site it is best to do so with "hip" members of the party not older more seasones campaigners with respect. Also, we must remember that T.V. does not necessarily paint a good picture of a politicians ability to serve. Remember Harry Potter? Do we want Gilderoy Lockhearts representing us? We must pay serious attention to who we vote for as the consequences on our society can be great....though at the moment our politicians are more concerned with protecting us from the greed and stupidity of those in power we do not vote for....

ahhh bless....

Once again, Matthew Taylor makes a valid point. There must have been a good reason you hired him in the first place? :)

Labourlist is so old fashioned and dull. A party political propaganda site - nothing more - nothing less. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I'm sorry to be so negative but Labourlist is a rubbish site. It's as bad as conservatives.com

Webcameron used to be a great site until David Cameron moved it to conservatives.com without any warning (or even a thank you and good-bye to his Webcameron web community). That was really bad form and Webcameron is now dead, over, finished. It's a shame really because for at least a year that site rocked.

Webcameron was great because it had commenters from all walks of life on it - and from across the political spectrum as well. The dialogue was really fascinating at times - and D Cameron always made a huge effort to interact with his web community on a regular basis...then he blew the whole thing up and jumped ship... how rude,

Anyway, JP, I think Matthew Taylor might just acknowledge that although you are 70 years old - you can blog. I suspect you are an exception the rule.

Isn't it ironic though that it is actually the LABOUR Party that needs to modernise! ? It's a funny old world. Who would have thought?

You could start modernising your party by letting the public have an interesting and exciting general election...David Miliband vs David Cameron? Now that would be a real choice! Didn't you recently describe Gordon Brown as being like the captain of the Titanic?? Spot on. Brown is all about the past. The public will never accept him as PM.

If the Labour Party is going to modernise, and reach out to the public, and be more inclusive, then why can't we have some debates on TV? Brown vs Cameron for a start? That would prove to the public that Labour aren't control freaks that we think you are. Please don't reply 'oh - no - we can't - we already have PMQs'. We've all grown weary of that stale old chestnut.

What do you think JP? Are you for debates on telly so the public can make an informed choice? Peter Mandy vs Ken Clarke? Darling vs Osborne? Cameron vs Brown?

If you talk the talk then you better walk the walk.

:)

I'm personally against having TV debates. For one, it would be more difficult to have a debate with 3 people (as opposed to 2 in the US). And even then you're missing the independents and many other parties and (though I am a Labour supporter) they're a very important part of the democracy.

Debates put more of an emphasis on the individual people instead of on the party as a whole which I believe is not a good way to elect a government. People voted for Obama without even knowing who would be in his cabinet.

There were televised debates in the US with multiple candidates...all good stuff too. The VP debates were interesting too.

Blank commenter above> Individual people actually matter - why do you think Labour are up the creek?
People want to know what the leader of a party thinks and feels about certain issues. Emotional intelligence matters. PMQs does not apply to this argument.

I watched Obama on TV in over 20 debates - all time well spent too.

People in the UK want change too - they want a new kind of politics. I believe the public definitely want televised debates - and I think Labour are terrified.

I've no idea why my username hasn't appeared, that's very odd (It's Tim Davies btw).

"There were televised debates in the US with multiple candidates...all good stuff too. The VP debates were interesting too." - oh right, well all of the high profile debates featured only 2 people.

"Individual people actually matter" - I know they do, but I don't like how people voted for a person, not for a party, which I don't think is good at all.

"People want to know what the leader of a party thinks and feels about certain issues." - In PMQs a hugely diverse range of questions are asked from all MPs so it isn't difficult to know what the PM thinks of an issue.

"Emotional intelligence matters. PMQs does not apply to this argument." - I disagree. PMQs is a far, far tougher test of character. In 2 of the debates, the candidates already knew what the questions were going to be on.

Don't get me wrong, I too would like to see some extra way to get politics on TV and more mainstream, but only in a way that keeps people's focus on party policies and values.

Tim, you say > "only in a way that keeps people's focus on party policies and values."

Isn't that the purpose of a leader? To represent the party as a whole? If the leader can't speak on behalf of his or her party then what's the point? Just let the Queen rule and be done with it?

Labour want to modernise, correct? Then why not debate? What is there to hide? The public want a new kind of politics, they want politicians to learn a new language...what better way to get your point across than a televised debate.

I think Labour know that Gordon Brown lacks the emotional intelligence to connect with the people - hence no debates. Same old politics as usual. But things will change - so Labour ought to try to change too or they will get left behind.

Ooops forgot to include the Lib Dems on the debate suggestion.

Brown>Cameron>Clegg

Darling>Osborne>Cable

Peter Mandy>Ken Clarke>?


The public demand a proper debate. The public demand democracy.

Thank you.