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Week on the web
Martha Moss
Nationalisation was the buzzword on the web this week following Alistair Darling's announcement that Northern Rock was to be taken into public ownership.
Guido claims the move represented a return to 1970s style socialism, while Iain Dale says it is worse than Black Wednesday.
The public, however, appears not to agree - a Times/Populus poll revealed on Friday that 49 per cent backed nationalisation, with 50 per cent supporting Alistair Darling as chancellor.
But many in the blogosphere question the credibility of the survey, which is based on a sample size of just 519 - half of a normal UK opinion poll.
Conservativehome claims that it "should carry something of a health warning", but concludes that Northern Rock "has not done Labour serious damage".
Mike Smithson, on the other hand, wants "to see some properly adjusted voting intention figures before we can conclude that Gord and Alistair are off the hook".
Over at the BBC, Nick Robinson claims that "the N word - nationalisation - is so toxic to Brown's generation that they never wanted it to be heard in the same sentence as the Labour Party again".
Iain Dale's collection of how the Northern Rock debacle is being viewed around the world is worth a look, and anyone confused about the issue of excluding offshore firm Granite from nationalisation would do well to check out this post at Red Box.
Also this week, Ken Livingstone launched his campaign website for the London mayoral elections and Boris Johnson set out his key themes to journalists.
Bloggers, however, were more concerned with Ken's outburst at a London Assembly meeting. This video shows Ken accusing the London Assembly of being "sanctimonious hypocrites" for questioning him and not Lee Jasper.
"You're dragging this out for electoral purposes – sanctimonious hypocrites every one of you," said the mayor, finger-wagging aplenty.
This may have done something to damage Ken's credibility, but the vote-winner for Boris will surely be his unofficial theme tune, which captures the essence of his politics with the lyrics: "We've all seen his football tackle, he hit the German mid-air. But when it comes to political know-how, Boris knows the score. With Boris abound let's kick Ken out - vote Boris for mayor."
Writing on the Telegraph's Three Line Whip blog, David Hughes says the outburst "had the authentic smack of the tin-pot dictator", while under the headline "Whisky business at the GLA", Guido mocks up a series of stills which appear to show the mayor swaying in his seat.
Elsewhere, Alan Johnson's pledge to create a 'well note' culture in the workplace prompts Dizzy's proclamation that unless you are "seriously psychotic" or "quadriplegic" there is going to be work that you can do - even if it involves working from your bed. This does nothing to belittle the abilities of the unwell worker, Dizzy insists, and he dismisses "those opposed to such things who will see it as evil and right-wing".
Sam Coates addresses the far more serious question relating to the health of Johnson's hair, noting that reports that he demanded a press officer always be on hand with a hairdryer "so that his thinning locks may be given a boost before he appears on TV" were never denied.
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Published: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:33:55 GMT+00
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