The BNP Membership List publication affair demonstrates how blogs and internet web sites can be 2 or 3 days ahead of the mainstream media regarding some news stories. We have been getting tens of thousands of visitors to our 21st December 2006 article: Encryption and the BNP membership list - does your political party or campaign group protect your personal details with encryption ? commenting on ...

I’m at the conference “Media and politics – the tension between freedom of the press and personal rights in print media and the internet” (more here) – refresh the page for the latest entries. 1921 – Hajo Friedrich is making the introduction, introducing Klaus-Heiner Lehne from the CDU, chair of the Legal Affairs Committee in the EP ...

Something bizarre seems to have turned into a media obsession over the last few days. Allegations against Peter Mandelson, a figure who seems universally hated by the media, turned into a disaster for the Conservatives. How, the man at the centre of the introductions of UK politicians to Russian metal magnate Oleg Deripaska, Nathaniel Rothschild complained about The Times implying Mandelson was do...

Over the last few days Alan Johnson seemed to retreat, only to then start spinning on ID cards. They won't be compulsory, they're to protect your identity, they were never for terrorism and the nation is crying out for them. The home secretary emphasised his personal commitment to a voluntary scheme, saying it should be a personal choice for British citizens in the same vein as obtaining a passpor...

In the slew of polling data that has come out to mark Obama’s 100 days, two numbers stand out to me: 81 percent of Americans like Obama, that’s 30 percent more than support his policies. This is a result of several things: his personal manner, the fact that people appreciate the historical significance of having a black president and the respect afforded the presidency. But I think an ...

Taxpayers face a £46m bill for the cost of communications companies storing details of all personal email and internet use, the Home Office has revealed. The introduction from April of a requirement on internet service providers to keep details of personal internet use follows a 2006 EU directive on data retention agreed after the 2005 London bombings. Many British communications compani...

Suddenly politics has become personal: not the enmity between David Cameron and Gordon Brown, but the relationship between government and people. From green taxes to smoking bans, obesity crackdowns to parenting contracts, marriage incentives and even organ donorship, politicians find themselves grappling with the public consequences of private decisions.

Back in the nineteen seventies as I went through the transition from boyhood to adulthood I spent pretty much most of my spare time doing something or other outdoors. This was, of course, in the days before personal computers and the Internet, multi channel 24 hour television, games consoles and all the other distractions the modern society has for a 10 - 16 year old. We lived in a part of Slough ...

Recently, Simon Hughes spoke to this issue in a video interview, then widely reported - e.g. by gay media outlet Pink News - that Hughes had indicated that gay marriage will happen in this parliament. However, that is a rather optimistic assessment of what Hughes actually said.

My personal deposit guarantee is this big We've heard a lot over the last few days about bank deposit guarantees. The FSA is raising its guarantee limit to £50,000, and according to the government that will cover 98% of all personal accounts. Implication - only 2% of accounts are left out, and they all belong to plutocrats who can take care of themselves. So don't worry. In which c...