The blogging Secretary of State..

Having previously noted the absence of the promised interactive website for the Secretary of State for Wales etc’s campaign to be deputy leader of the Labour Party, [other things on his mind – Ed] it would be remiss of me not to now note the launch of said website.. on Saturday when I was somewhat distracted by other events. The campaign team even provided a well known, if tame, interviewer actor to start the discussion. All bells and whistles seem to be present, including a Flickr stream and a YouTube channel – some BBC and Channel4 material linked there but not much else so far. And Peter has a blog! “On My Blog I’ll keep directly in touch with you as the campaign progresses, and read the comments you post so this becomes a genuine two way dialogue.” There is, as you’d expect, a commenting policy Adds I suppose I could claim the credit for this [or at least a fee? – Ed]From Peter Hain’s first blog post

I’m arriving back in the UK today from the annual St. Patrick’s Day bash at the White House – one of the nicer obligations of being Northern Ireland Secretary. Despite Labour’s differences with the neocons the Bush administration, the President himself has been incredibly supportive of our efforts in Northern Ireland, as was Bill Clinton before him.

Picking up the Mirror at the airport I see the Tories have done the next stage of what I’ve called their ‘spray job’ – trying to rebrand themselves as the guardians of the public services. Give me a break. The party that brought the NHS to its knees and underfunded our schools? They must think the public are stupid – or at least have short memories. Cameron and Osbourne are increasingly the used car salesmen of politics – but the battered clapped out old party they are painting green isn’t going to fool people – especially not when their so called commitment to public services still includes spending less than Gordon has pledged for the years ahead so they can fund tax cuts – no doubt for their rich friends. This will be a critical dividing line at the next election.

There’s that neocon reference again.. and, of course, the Conservatives aren’t the only ones with rich friends..

Give me a break, indeed.

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