A strange email arrived in my in-box this morning out of the blue, entitled "GUIDANCE FOR MEMBERS ON WEBSITES FUNDED THROUGH THE OFFICE COSTS ALLOWANCE".As far as I can tell, this is an attempt to shut down AM’s blogs like this one. I assume that even by writing this I am breaking these new and bizarre and unnecessary ‘guidelines’.
I understand that this edict flows from the Assembly Commission (I had to ask, because no one explained) and as far as I am aware, not one of my Assembly colleagues, of any party, was consulted on this change. As such this decision has by-passed the democratic process.
The idea that a politician’s blog or website should be apolitical is fundamentally absurd. Apart from anything else, the Assembly produces, twice a week, a taxpayer funded ‘Record’ of plenary business which is loaded with party political debate. If this decision is allowed to stand we will be in the ludicrous position of having comments by AMs banned in blog form, while they are freely available on the Assembly’s own website.
In my view, if a comment is allowable in plenary – it should be allowable in blog form. Perhaps we should be consistent in our logic and rule ‘political’ comments in the chamber out of order! No doubt we could engage the nation with fascinating discussions of the weather or the sports results instead.
This is also an unworkable proposal. What would happen, for instance to internet ‘links’? If I linked to a comment piece in the Guardian, or another politician’s speech – would that be banned?
What happens if a constituent of mine leaves a politically minded ‘comment’ on the blog? Do I erase it?
To reduce the web presence of AMs to a list of surgery dates and smiley photo opps – would not just make our websites boring (and faintly sinister, in a comment free, Eastern Bloc sanitised sort of way) it would damage the shot in the arm that blogging has given the Welsh body politic.
The commission must withdraw this proposal now and consult with the people who were elected to this place to speak out – not sit mute.
2 comments:
You could always fund your blog yourself of course rather than rely on us paying for it.
Good to see a Labour politician standing up for free speech after all your party has done to destroy it in this country and around the world.
Its always good to see how quickly people react angrily when an issue effects them personally.
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