Review 2009: October – December

From @LabourList

In the final installment of LabourList’s review of the year online (see the first, second and third parts) we look to the last quarter of 2009. Nick Griffin appears on the BBC Question Time, the blogosphere flexes its muscles over Trafigura and Jan Moir, the Chilcot Inquiry gets underway and Labour begins to set out its stall in the Pre Budget Report.

October

• 3rd – A row over Europe threatens to overshadow the Conservative Party conference, while Cameron is also tested on his Bullingdon Club past.
• 8th – The scheduled appearance of Nick Griffin on BBC’s Question Time generates afierce debate over ‘no platform’ policies while others criticise those selected for the panel.
• 9th – Video footage of a clash of the bloggers emerges as Will Straw and Sunny Hundal interview Tory Bear.
• 13th – Trafigura’s attempts at using a so-called ‘super injunction’ to censor the reporting of parliament are defeated with the help of a sustained campaign on Twitter and the blogosphere.
• 17th – Jan Moir’s article on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately is roundly attacked as homphobic.
• 23rd – Nick Griffin’s Question Time performance receives a mixed reception, with criticism of the BBC for altering the format.

November

• 1st – Tim Montgomerie predicts that the Tories will not offer a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
• 2nd – The sacking of government drugs adviser David Nutt by Alan Johnson creates a major row.
• 3rd – Cardiff Blogger Benny Austwick quits the Conservative Party following a run-in with a Tory staffer over Twitter posts.
• 9th – The bereaved mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan criticises Gordon Brown for an allegedly ‘insensitive’ letter of condolence.
• 11th – Sadie Smith calls last orders at her popular blog, while Recess Monkey returned from hiatus with its special brand of tittle tattle.
• 24th – The open sessions of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war get underway.
• 24th – Compass launches its ‘In Place of Cuts’ report, calling for a progressive redistribution of the tax system.

December

• 7th – The UN’s Climate Change Conference gets underway in Copenhagen.
• 9th – Policies such as taxes on bankers in the Pre Budget Report are seen as drawing dividing lines between Labour and the Tories but it is criticised for a reliance on over-optimistic growth figures.
• 13th – Sacked SNP blogger Mark MacLachlan hit back at his former SNP employers in the Sunday Times, with the issue going on to take up a full ten minutes of First Minister’s Questions later in the month.
• 17th – Jessica Asato’s plea for Labour to apologise generates a massive 242 comments on LabourList.
• 30th – The political blogosphere debates a prospective rise in the efficacy of the left online.