Nuts ahoy!

This

Until political blogging 'adds value' to our political culture, by allowing new voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair.

has me shaking with rage, even in my exhausted state.

I don't care what you think about what bloggers write. I don't do it to seek your approval. The reason I write is because there are so many things happening which simply aren't addressed,such as EU legislation, people being stopped for wearing outfits the state doesn't approve of and because the legislation being passed is so utterly retarded, dangerous and exactly the opposite of what a good government should be doing that unless I write how I feel I will probably have a nervous breakdown. I also feel that people out there should be aware of what is happening in the country they live in.

Don't like it, don't read it. If you don't want people to write about scandals and hypocrisy there's a simple answer to that: behave yourself. If you want to counter the accusations, engage with blogs. Engage, not ban.

But moaning because people want to write how they feel about legislation, want to get engaged with the political system and want to expose hypocrisy and lies is frankly disgraceful.

We're not stopping people getting engaged in the political system, you guys are. You are alienating voters because there is such a huge gulf between how you legislate, what you legislate and the level of control you want over our lives which we don't agree with. I would even go so far as saying that the medium of blogging is actually engaging more people in politics than any government propaganda system because the only people who seem to hate bloggers are the politicians being held to account.

So how, Hazel, is that a bad thing?