So, it’s that time of year again when we pick out the most viewed pieces at The Centre Left.
This year, what’s been encouraging to see is that, where in the past my most viewed pieces have often been at group blogs such as LabourList, Labour Uncut or elsewhere, in 2013 this little blog has come into its own with regard to traffic and Twitter retweets. For example, the this year’s no. 1 post has had two-and-a-half times the traffic of last year’s (hooray!)
So thank you, everyone, and counting down from number 5:
5. Tramping the dirt down: why we should never be like Galloway
As with last year, one of the most popular posts has been about dear old George, surely soon-to-be-ex MP for Bradford West. This one was written after his ugly tweet on the death of Margaret Thatcher. Which would have rather revealed his true colours, if, of course, there were anything left to reveal.
4. A Falkirk coda: who leaked?A little speculation on how earth the press got hold of the Falkirk investigation report. Since I wrote it, a summary of the report has been published by the Sunday Times, so it seems all the secrecy was largely for nothing.
3. Twitter, jokes and Lutfur RahmanA salutary lesson in two things: (i) the malice that lingers in some corners of the political spectrum and (ii) why we should always think before we tweet.
2. My God, what have I done?After Parliament’s shameful “Pontius Pilate” Syria vote, it seems that the outcome was not really what anyone expected, and Ed Miliband was no exception.
1. Woolwich, Islamism and the West
And, at Number One, following the foul and violent murder of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich in broad daylight, we saw how this horrific event brought out the best in many Muslims and non-Muslims alike. However, two notable exceptions were our old friend Ken Livingstone and the notably unpleasant preacher Anjem Choudary, as ably demonstrated in their comments afterwards.
Anyway, hope you’ve enjoyed The Centre Left in 2013 as much as I have making it; the goal is merely to try and inform, make you think, perhaps annoy, hopefully entertain and keep the flame alive for some kind of moderate centre-left politics, in an age when things seem to be getting rather polarised on both left and right.
All the best to all of you for the coming year, one which is surely gearing up to be a pretty momentous one for my beloved Labour Party. I’ll keep on writing as long as you keep on reading.
