Blair faces new wave of opposition (a la Dean and MoveOn)

[Rose Siding]

snip>


The group's significance, however, lies not in its demands - which are familiar from most leftwing critics of the government - but in its membership, which is made up of traditionally loyal Labour MPs not the so-called "usual suspects" of rebel backbenchers.

Its members - including Mr Blair's former deputy political secretary, Jon Cruddas, and former Home Office minister Angela Eagle - represent a broad cross-section of the parliamentary Labour party; containing both supporters and opponents of foundation hospitals and the war in Iraq; the two touchstone issues of the last parliament.

The group plans to influence No 10's consultation process, which starts this Friday, by issuing pamphlets, organising seminars and exploring the possibilities of online democracy.

Ms Eagle told Guardian Unlimited: "We're very interested in what people like Howard Dean (www.deanforamerica.com) and websites like MoveOn have been doing in the United States to increase democratic participation via the internet.

"We plan to use our website to encourage and enable people within the Labour movement to participate in the government's consultation exercise."

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1092221,00.html

[54anickel]

1. I've got a dumb question....

There's been talk about military gov't here and something similar in the UK. Also the numerous reports of "terrorists" using the Internet for communications.

Could they control access to the Internet under some sort of emergency operations?

[legin]

2. Mmmmmm...

If the quote is exactly word for word, then "exercise" pretty much sums up my experience of it at the local level.

I now call 'consultation' the C-word.

I could even get a little suspicious about quite what were the intentions of this 'new group'.

[goforit]

3. Nothing like a World wide "Democracy"

I wonder who will be impeached first?