The past twelve months (and prior) have seen several very popular blogs either shut down or change editorial hands. As the year draws to a close, what better opportunity to reflect on those bloggers “no longer with us”. Starring Iain Dale, Tom Harris, Derek Draper and others, we’ve finally completed our end-of-year video.
This is our tribute to those who have bought their site a one-way ticket to Zurich.
Having played an instrumental role in the resurgence of the UK left online, Scrapbook’s favourite policy-wonk-cum-blogger is leaving Left Foot Forward for think tank land. Will Straw will take up the post of Associate Director for Strategic Development at Labour-linked IPPR.*
Joining the more established group blogs Liberal Conspiracy, LabourList and Liberal Democrat Voice, the arrival of Left Foot Forward (and now Labour Uncut) heralded a more keen competition for the steadily increasing centre left audience. The growing quality of the left’s online offering over the past 18 months owes much to Straw and the excellent team he has built at LFF.
The vibrancy and dynamism of opposition blogs was reflected in a post-election “changing of the guard”, with lefties finally trumping Iain Dale et al in Wikio rankings. As Guido takes much pleasure in pointing out, however, we aren’t there yet in the traffic stakes:
Having built a platform, this is the next big challenge for LFF’s new acting editor Shamik Das and the rest of the left.
*No we won’t be spelling it in lower case. It looks silly.
Scrapbook isn’t the first lefty blog to be fisked recently by (the most entertaining) Dizzy Thinks. Our attack video on David Cameron’s lies to pensioners did not impress Mr. Hendren, who described it as a “steaming pile of bullshit”.
His argument is that, rather than being axed completely, entitlement to schemes such as bus passes and winter fuel payments will have been “changed”. This means waiting another five years for free bus travel and money given to older people for heating bills will not only be further age restricted but also cut by up to £100 for the most elderly recipients. Having promised to keep them, Tories have been in discussions about axing pension credits.
In the context of Cameron’s near hysterical outbursts about “Labour leaflet lies” during the election campaign, Scrapbook stands by our video. Indeed, as Sky News tackled the issue of cuts, ahem sorry, “changes” to bus passes:
It would be “entirely fair” for pensioners who watched the debate to assume [David Cameron's] comments meant the scheme would not change, particularly as Mr Cameron made several angry denials during the course of the campaign.
In that vein, hats off to Bob Piper for subsequently unearthing this pledge from Cameron, given at a press conference in March:
“We will keep what we inherit in all these areas. All these things that Labour are saying are complete and utter lies, and they know it too.”
Perhaps Dizzy can explain how such a categoric statement is consistent with the subsequent “changes”?
To check out our original attack video click here.
Online for a while but launching officially today, Left Foot Forward (twitter) is the latest entrant into an increasingly crowded selection of lefty group blogs. The site takes its inspiration from US blog ThinkProgress, grounding the editorial outlook with a “what we’re fighting for/against” manifesto.
In the video below, editor Will Straw sets out the stall for a perhaps more serious kind of political blog: ”It’s not that we don’t like opinion or gossip, we think that our team of experts can add most value by analysing what’s behind the news and looking at the facts”. You know it’s earnest as he’s located the nearest bookcase for that 15% added gravitas!
Straw will be talking the talk this evening on Sky News at 7:15pm.
(Lefty) policy wonks of the world unite!
