Derek Draper, LabourList and all that stuff

I’ve not blogged about some of the latest to-ings and fro-ings over Derek Draper and LabourList as plenty of other people have covered the topic, but this post in particular from a former Labour insider is worth highlighting.

I think he underestimates a bit the scope for the internet to make an impact on British politics, but his analysis is thoughtful and measured:

It’s taken thirty-six years but last week it finally happened. I found myself – however I might wish for it to be otherwise – agreeing with an article in the Daily Mail. It was a stingingly accurate critique of the Labourlist group blog which has been online for a while now but was “launched” last Thursday.

Labourlist is not something that I’d normally spare much thought about. I’ve been happy to drift away from the day-to-day dogfights of British politics since I stood down as a Special Adviser at the 2001 General Election in an effort to reclaim my life and start up some of my own projects. But I have found something sickly compelling about the way Labourlist has unfolded into a tragi-comedy that reveals more than it should about the troubled relationship the Labour Party has with the internet.

You can read the full piece – and it’s well worth a read – here. It’s also interesting to note that in the comments, Alex Hilton of Recess Monkey / Labour Home agrees with the analysis.

Amusing side-point: Jack Thurston did actually study at Berkeley, not just in Berkeley (this at/in thing has been one of the controversies surrounding Derek Draper).

P.S. Derek: if you’re reading this, here’s a free tip. When you receive a letter from someone, does them lapsing into CAPITAL LETTERS AT VARIOUS POINTS make you think (a) crikey, that really makes the point powerfully, or (b) I wonder if they’d be using green ink if they were handwriting this? Now look at some of your own headlines…

UPDATE: Dizzy Thinks has a nice line in satire today too.