It is also the first chance I’ve had to play on an iPad. It definitely does elicit a “Oooh” on seeing it. It’s prettier and smaller than I thought it would be. I’ve already checked out the video capability by watching the Sex and the City 2 trailer (again – well it’s important that it’s something I can do a like for like comparison on my iPhone and Macbook) and now I’m checking out the typing capability with this blog. It’s actually quite nice to type on, I’m getting a fair pace up and feel like I’ve got to grips with the keyboard in a couple of paragraphs even though I have to remember to change for different punctuation. The leap from iPhone to iPad is minimal, but landscape the keyboard is very acceptable for writing.

It is a thing of beauty… I can imagine sitting on a train typing away or taking a break to watch a movie. The most appealing thing is the size is small enough to fit in most of my handbags. If I travelled as much as I used to then I would almost certainly get one of these to save on luggage when a laptop wasn’t necessary. Especially now Im convinced I could type on it without trouble.

Having said that I wouldn’t necessarily use it as an eBook reader. With the iPad you are reading a screen, unlike the Sony Reader where the experience isn’t nearly as harsh on your eyes (as someone who is due their first pair of glasses probably due to too much screen time that’s a huge drawback). The other reason is that I don’t believe the days of the book are over, I’m quite sentimental about holding a real book in my hand to read. And these days even the humble paperback is multifunctional. Place it under your iPad and it makes it just the right height of the surface to be able to type comfortably! (although I’m currently using an empty Graze* box, they are multifunctional too!)

The only major downside is publishing this blog. In an hour of playing about on this thing I have learned many things, such as how to save an image from the web or email to your iPad and realised just how fast you can switch between apps. But to work between Evernote, WordPress and Safari is too fiddly for my liking and I’ve ended up heading back to my work PC to finish up the job. It’s probably a good job there is a downside as it stops me from heading straight to the Newcastle Apple Store after work (actually my leg would also do a pretty good job of slowing me down!)

Compared to the iPad my iPhone suddenly seems tiny too! And that’s the third first of the day. Hopefully sometime soon after 6pm (BST) Steve Jobs will announce the new iPhone HD/4G and that i am very excited about. Never before have I been at the moment of a major Apple release able to justify indulging in the newness. For the first time i have a genuine excuse of being at the point of upgrade on my contract. Much as I may have to have this iPad prized from my hands in an hour or so, I will let it go and for now resist rushing out and buying one for myself. But once the new iPhone is on pre-order wild horses won’t be able to stop me…

*try Graze for free (includes free iPad stand… kind of!) using the code RDFJPGB at http://www.graze.com/

In the trailer Lily (Charlotte’s daughter) asks “Like in Jasmine and Aladdin?” to which Carrie replies “Yes sweetie, but with cocktails” and that is exactly what SATC2 is. A fairytale. Disney for adults. And it always has been. The criticism that it’s misplaced decadence in a time of frugality misses the point. For most of us Sex and the City has always been like window shopping, looking at all the things we can never hope to afford, recession or no recession. The first shot of Carrie’s gorgeous gold glitter Louboutin’s received an intake of breath and a sense of longing. Let’s face it, until she married Big even Carrie’s wardrobe and credit card abuse was enough to leave her bankrupt before the end of the first series. Unlike her three co-stars with believably affluent jobs and/or lives, as a newspaper columnist she wasn’t earning enough to keep herself in the manner to which she was accustomed.

SATC has never lived in reality. This sequel may not have had quite the heart wrenching scenes of the first one, but there was comedy. And, for some, echoes of reality — with amazing and sometimes “interesting” outfits. The women might now be in their forties and fifties, but having been a single girl for pretty much all of my twenties I have seen friends struggle with the different challenges in this movie; settling down to marriage, juggling children and coming to hate a job they once loved. I found the drama of the jilted bride in the first movie much further removed from real life than than Samantha trying to deal with menopause in the second.

For over two hours I was whisked away on a fabulous daydream. I giggled. I looked on in awe. And, without apology, I enjoyed it. We let children watch Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Movies about two young impressionable girls, asleep, powerless, waiting for the kiss of their one true love, who will then whisk them away, with no consultation, to a happily ever after? I think they’re far more ripe for scrutiny than a romp in Abu Dhabi in fabulous outfits, where a rich man has paid for a mere week away, on Samantha’s terms, before they return to their “real” lives in New York.

Sex and the City has been the voice of many taboos. It’s also been shallow and decadent. This film isn’t made for a critical audience. Hate Sex and the City? Well I can say without a shadow of a doubt you shouldn’t waste your time and money seeing this film. Love Sex and the City? Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Those of us who have been campaigning for electoral reform over the last few days can see the beginning of it today. Proportional representation will see a future of no one party having a majority of seats. Therefore if reform is what we really want, then two parties working together despite political differences is a start of this.

Do I trust Cameron and Clegg? Not yet, but I’m going to let them prove this can be done and done well. Do I think the Lib Dems have given in to the Tories? No.

The advantage of this agreement is that there should be real debate over policies. Not the slanging matches between the party in power and the opposition, where the government get their own way more often than not. We’ll hopefully see talks that could see the best bits from each party coming through.

My biggest fear is the negative impact of the media that could kill any possibility that this will work. Having been glued to the BBC for the past few days I have seen a lot of negativity towards everything going on. The encouragement that people should conclude they have been betrayed whatever their party alliance. The suggestion that the Lib Dems have given up all their policies, which is certainly not the case. I am not against questions being asked and decisions being scrutinised, it is essential this happens. But the new government has to be given a chance to work. Not least because we need stability to get out of the economic mess we’re in at the moment.

Of course there is going to be plenty thrown up in terms of differences. Arguments that have happened in the past will be brought up again and again. But isn’t that the politics we want to get away from? We seem to want politicians to work together across party divides, yet few are willing to believe that it is possible. People complain about our political systems, the amount of time wasted on party arguments rather than on working for the country, and now we’re looking at a system that could reduce point scoring and increase productivity.

Well we have an opportunity for change. We need to start asking ourselves what we really do want? You can’t moan about the political system as it is, demand change, and then bitch when a possible new way of working comes along. Can you honestly tell me that anyone would have been 100% happy with any of the options on the table?

The new system won’t be perfect or easy. There will be problems, mistakes and plenty to learn as they go along. But there are problems, mistakes and plenty to learn in every single government we have had. There will be arguments where each party has a completely opposite stance on an issue, but there this can happen within parties. We’ve seen division within Labour in the run up to this election. I’m sure parts of the media will shortly be dusting off their rose tinted glasses and proclaiming all was well with majority governments. This can work if Cameron and Clegg can learn to trust each other, if their parties can learn to trust their leaders, and if people really want to make it work.

It is possible to have different views and be working towards the same goals. If this does last the full five years I hope at the next General Election we see a new system of voting. I hope we see election campaigns based on strengths of candidates, not weaknesses of their opposition. One based less on party politics and more about what is best for the UK. I hope we see a full coalition in 2015 that involves Conservative, Lib Dems and Labour.

I suggest before making your own judgement that you read through the initial Coalition Agreement document either at the Lib Dems website or Conservative website (it’s less than six pages long and fairly easy to get through)

For me the agreement addresses many points I’d considered and blogged about, though other areas lack any real information so far…
Education – Looks like a move towards giving some control back to schools while still being accountable
Crime – no specifics
Environment (Climate Change) – Heathrow third runway plans scrapped and a number of other measures to cut our emissions
Economy - Introduction of a banking levy and also changes to tax that benefit the lowest earners.
Health/NHS – Protection of and investment in the NHS
Welfare -  will be interested to see what the policies are about unemployment, sounds like a reduction in bureaucracy for welfare to work programmes.
Immigration – I’ll be interested to see how the caps on immigration from outside the UK are applied. There are plenty of other countries to look to for examples and advice, so I hope we learn from their successes and mistakes.
Democracy – Proposals by the end of the year on proportional representation, though it seems skewed to AV. Also a welcome reform to party funding.
War - No promises on Iraq or Afghanistan other than mentioned in Cameron and Cleggs press conference
Europe – Sounds like we’re going to limit the powers we give to Europe while still maintaining beneficial relationships.

In addition the parties have agreed to disagree on Nuclear Power and tax allowances for married couples, showing that where they can’t find common ground in some areas doesn’t mean they can’t work together in others.

Six pages isn’t nearly enough to show how it will all unfold, but to me it sounds like we will be getting the best of the Lib Dem policies and losing the worst of the Tory policies. I want this government to succeed, and to start seeing a new political approach based on policies not parties.

As it was it looked more like the Queen’s response was “Oh no! Not you!”.

I’ll come back to the events of this evening shortly… but first lets hop in the Tardis and head back to Thursday 6th May 2010. Having already voted by post the real excitement of my day only really kicked in at 9pm (though I’d been keeping an eye on the BBC News live feed all day!). I started with Channel 4 Alternative Election Night, while playing BBC election games with my sister. One game involved taking turns to describe a politician (from the picture cards provided) and the other guessing who we were talking about. There was one I was stumped with. I recognised the name and the face but could not remember why I knew them. I racked my brains and in the end turned to Wikipedia. In the end I went with the clue “A party leader that no one can remember.” My sisters response was along the lines of “Oh yes, erm… him… Tory… nope can’t remember his name”. It was Iain Duncan Smith.

As soon as the first result was about to be announced I was straight over to the BBC. At 11.30pm I dragged myself away from my sister’s house so she could get enough sleep and have energy to organise small children in the morning. Not having such responsibilities  I returned home to take in a strange, interesting yet somewhat uneventful night. I switched between hope and dispair. I cheered for the results in my home town of Southport (John Pugh held his Lib Dem seat) and Brighton (Caroline Lucas gained the first Green Party seat). The time flew by as I’ve discovered can happen easily with BBC News 24 and I was entertained by others who saw the night through on Twitter. By 7am, having stayed up through the night (without the aide of caffeine!) I managed to pull myself out of my election trance to get a few hours sleep.

There is no doubt that since Friday there has been vocal core on Twitter and Facebook disappointed about the current options on the table. I believe that the result shows we do need electoral reform, we are not a two party country and we do need to reflect that by changing the way our government works. The way the people of the UK voted last week has shown that we don’t want a majority ruling, but in order to represent the views of the country we need the three main parties to work together. We cannot ignore that 10.7 million people voted a Conservative government, but we also can’t ignore the further 15.4 million that voted for Labour or Liberal Democrats. After everything that’s happened the past couple of years it speaks volumes that the Conservative party couldn’t win a majority of seats in these conditions. I hope if Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems decide to work with the Tories, which it looks like they are going to do, they do so in a way that makes no compromise on electoral reform. How this coalition works should be a foundation for future governments to work in future with a mix of parties, as they do in other countries. Take Back Parliament has been campaigning and protesting heavily this week and with continuing public pressure hopefully the debate is here to stay.

For all his faults and failures I do believe that Gordon Brown cares deeply about this country and that has been his motivation as Chancellor and Prime Minister rather than blatant personal ambition. Looking at the guys about to take over I have to say that even if I don’t always agree with Brown’s decision, they are a damn sight better than those that could be imposed in the coming weeks and months. Though I think it was inevitable, I am sad to see him go because the thought of David Cameron and George Osbourne in charge is scary, and it’s just about to get real.

While I don’t know what the short term holds for our country, nor do I know what it holds for me. Long term I really want to get involved in politics. I just don’t know where to start. I’m not sure I want to get into party politics straight away, but I’m not sure how else you can get involved. I’m sure I’ll make sure I find out one way or another in the not too distant future. If I’m not happy with what’s happening in this country then I should make an effort to be part of the challenge and the change.

The day after the election was announced I booked the 7^th May off work in the hope that I might manage to keep my eyes open through the night through to the announcement of the result. Considering I’m usually jumping with joy if I keep going until midnight these days it is not going to be an easy task, I just hope the adrenaline sees me through. My aim is to still be awake in 24 hours time.

I’ve made quite a controversial decision myself. Between 9pm and 1am I’m thinking of watching the Channel 4 Alternative Election Night. I love the BBC, I really do, but if I’m going to try and see this through the night then kicking off with comedy and being able to get annoyed whenever Jimmy Carr is totally inappropriate might just get me through the tiredness barrier. There’s plenty of time for me to head back over to the BBC and catch up with David Dimbleby and his swingometer later.

Yesterday Labour (in the form of David Milliband) and Nick Clegg descended on Durham. Not surprisingly as it’s a target seat for the Lib Dems. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to hot foot it over to Palace Green and meet my second party leader in a week, as I’ve already postal voted I thought that might be a bit unnecessary. I did watch the 20 minute Q&A session with Durham students on the BBC live coverage of the General Election.

I’m getting very excited about the way today will unfold, but also nervous. Once we hit 10pm there is nothing to do but enjoy the night as the results role in. I’m hoping the Lib Dems get the most votes, purely because I’m up for the campaign to change the voting system. Electoral reform is top of my list for letters to write to my MP, old or new, come Friday morning. However if my worst nightmare unfolds and the Tory’s get a majority I am almost certain I will cry, and not just because it means being faced with the smug, creepy and disturbing looks of Cameron and Osbourne.

I understand the argument that one term of Conservative government making the deep cuts that are needed could ensure we don’t see any more of them for two or three terms after, but there is not just the economy to think of. I can guarantee they won’t address any of the environmental changes needed to stop climate change reaching the tipping point where it spirals out of our control, because in a matter of decades the economy would be the least of our worries.

I’d rather have a Labour win or Lab/Lib coalition that tries to extract more from the rich to stop the economic impact being so great on the poor. I’d hope both of them will stick to their promises to pursue something along the lines of the Robin Hood Tax which would address economy, poverty and the environment. The Tories are scarily devoid of targets, costs and dates. I definitely think the motto when voting should be “better the devil you know” (and now I want to burst into a Kylie song and dance!)

I will be playing ‘spot the result’ with the previous places I’ve lived to keep me awake, I just hope they don’t all declare too early. There are battles in Bournemouth West (a Lib Dem bid for a Tory seat where the MP has retired) and Durham (Labour and Lib Dem candidates who have shown their skill in bitching about each other and little else). My other previous homes of Southport (Lib Dem), Streatham (Labour) and Mitcham & Morden (Labour) look unlikely to throw up any surprises.

I’m hoping to come up with a few more ideas to keep me entertained and alert through the night. Candidate cocktails (any excuse!) or perhaps just playing on Downing Street Fighter (with Gillian Duffy bonus round).  I may even have to try and pen a 3am blog if I’m still awake… I apologise in advance!

I may be a couple of days late in mentioning Gordon Brown’s gaffe with Gillian Duffy, but what’s interested me is the reaction to it. Initial news reports suggested it had all but killed the Labour campaign, however it seems in reality it may have balanced out. A few votes lost by those who are appalled versus a few votes won from those who respect him a little bit more for seeing his human side.

Gillian Duffy didn’t deserve to be called a bigot. Like so many of us she doesn’t necessarily understand all the ins and outs of immigration and the way she expresses her views are based on the information she is exposed to on a daily basis. We are lucky to live in a society that has a varied media, however it is also one that produces broadsheets and tabloids with political bias and often not the whole story. However, equally, Brown doesn’t deserve to be vilified for making one error in a long campaign. The saddest thing is that now Mrs Duffy is not intending to vote, and every non-vote is a benefit to the extreme right wing (there is a National Front candidate in her constituency).

This isn’t a pro-Labour blog. It’s a pro-MPs-being-allowed-to-be-human blog. Over the next 12 months it is more than likely I’ll join a party, I am no where near deciding which one yet. If I enjoy getting involved in local politics, perhaps in a decade or so I’ll consider standing as an MP. If I do that I can’t promise to be perfect, but I will promise to care and do everything I can to do the best for the people in my constituency and the UK. I believe that even with all my flaws and weaknesses that would be enough to get me elected.

I only wish I could have met Nick Clegg and Caroline Lucas too… but that’s just being greedy!

The biggest question I’ve been asking myself is what do I care about? WWID (‘What Would I Do?’ as opposed to WWMD) if I was the PM? And which party fits best with that?

Sounds straightforward, but then there’s the local element. What if the party I want to win nationally happens to have a mediocre candidate in my area? Do I put national politics before local politics hoping that if the candidate wins they will step up to the mark? Or do I go with local politics even though I don’t agree with quite a bit of their national manifesto?

I have far too many questions in my head that realistically aren’t going to be answered by the time the final leader’s debate is over tomorrow night.

Simply (and I could write a blog post or two on all of these) I’ve outlined the things I care about most:

Education: Overhaul the current bureaucracy, targets and form filling for teachers. Move away from teaching children how to pass exams and give teachers more freedom over how they teach. Stop obsessing over getting 50% into university and take a much broader approach encompassing vocational and academic learning from 16.

Crime: Greater use of Restorative Justice, especially amongst young offenders and petty criminals to reduce reoffending, decrease the risk of them becoming career criminals, rehabilitate them to society. Most importantly this approach also helps the victims recover from the crime, something our current justice system doesn’t address.

Climate Change: No third runway at Heathrow. Reduction in emissions and a focus on increasing awareness of the realities of climate change in our life time, including the measures needed before the next General Election.

Economy: Robin Hood Tax. Make the banks responsible for rectifying the economic mess we are in and take the pressure off cuts in our national services.

Health/NHS: Keep the NHS. I accept money is tight but there has to be a way to pay our NHS nurses more. They do an amazing job and deserve more recognition.

Welfare: Families should be supported regardless of whether they are single parent, gay or straight, unmarried or married. We need to continue to support those who are trying to find work. There needs to be more focus on volunteering for those unemployed for more than a few months. The state should support those genuinely unable to work. There needs to be a tougher approach to those who are unemployed long term for no good reason and have no intention of finding work.

Immigration: We do need to tighten up immigration laws, but most definitely not stop it. There needs to be a sensible approach that benefits everyone, an improvement in the way it is managed. The UK is a brilliant multicultural society and that should be celebrated.

Democracy: Introduction of proportional representation in voting.

War: I just don’t know. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have never happened, but they have and we’ve contributed to the problems both those countries are now facing. I think it is right to reduce our troops and let those countries do what they need to do, but at the same time we probably owe them some support to do that.

Europe: We should stay a part of the EU. Priorities to work together on climate change and the economic crisis. I’m undecided on how much say the EU should have on our day-to-day business.

And one final thing (I’m not sure which point it comes under) if David Cameron tries to destroy the BBC he’ll have to get past me first!!!

I try to recycle but never have been brilliant at it. I have gradually become more environmentally friendly. I got the idea of sustainability before I really understood climate change, purely because I think we are very wasteful of resources. However I admit until now although I’ve done my bit I’ve not been proactive. Until about a year ago I was still questioning the amount we’d impacted on the climate as opposed to a normal cycle of climate change that happens over thousands of years. It’s taken time but I do now accept that we are having an impact and things need to change.

However I wish I’d watched this film a couple of years ago. Things don’t just need to change. They need to change soon. They need to change fast.

In an hour and a half I get it. I understand how big the changes need to be. From this day on I will try to do everything I can to reduce my carbon footprint. I will support causes to increase recycling and sustainability. I will campaign for governments and oil companies to make the changes that are needed. I need to educate myself and I’m sure I’ll make some mistakes along the way. But if I try to do my bit I can forgive myself for the times I slip up.

Why bother making the effort, surely no one person can make a difference so there’s not much point unless the big offenders make a change. Very true. But is that enough of an excuse for me anymore.  You’re not going to take my word for it. I wouldn’t take my word for it.You have to watch it for yourself.

I am not doing this out of guilt. I don’t feel like this is a burden. I feel like I have just been educated about what is going to happen in my lifetime. Not in a mythical future. Not to unborn future generations. What is going to happen to me and my family. To every person, every living organism, on this planet.

If we don’t do anything then in a few short decades huge economic growth isn’t going to be worth a penny. If we do something now then sustainable economic growth may be worth something in the future. When I say now, I mean NOW. Today. This month. This year. Put it this way, by the next UK General Election it will be too late. By then it is likely the damage will be irreversible. In the movies there’s always a climax with a ticking clock and it seems so cliched that the world is saved with seconds to go. Unfortunately when it comes to climate change that isn’t a cliche any more. It is a reality. 5 years. The clock is ticking. This isn’t just scaremongering or exaggeration. If we’d taken it seriously 10 years ago we wouldn’t be in this position now.

Give up 90 minutes of your time and you won’t regret it. Please educate yourselves and share it with other people to educate them too, so you can make informed decisions. I understand that you may not want to watch it, ignorance is bliss after all. I am as guilty as the rest of us for doing that, it is human nature. But the next few decades aren’t going to be very nice if we don’t make changes now. By the time the really bad stuff happens it will be too late.  We’ve already had a preview when you look at the natural disasters that have happened in the past five years. We need to stop the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) attitudes that stop the progress of sustainable energy. We need to tell the governments and oil corporations that it is not okay to continue like this. But we really have to do it now.

Until two hours ago it bothered me that I might have to work until I’m 70 or above before I can afford to retire. Now I understand that when I reach 70 in 2053 money will be the least of my worries unless things change.

I will shut up now. Hopefully you are dying to see whatever has caused such a huge change in my attitude in a short space of time. So I’m going to make it nice and easy:

• Watch it or download it from The Age of Stupid website
• Buy it on Amazon for only £6.99
• Sign up for LoveFilm for free and rent it (and if you don’t want to keep your membership you can close your account before LoveFilm charges you a penny)
• Borrow it from your local library (staff and students at Durham University can find it in the catalogue and reserve if it’s out on loan)

And if you do buy it, please share it with everyone else. Though once you’ve watched it you’ll probably do that anyway.

The Digital Economy Bill (hence the abbreviation to “debill”) is been created to update our laws relating to digital, information and communications sectors. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills gives details on the four broad areas the bill will address:

1. A competitive digital communications infrastructure
2. Creative industries in a digital world
3. Public service content
4. Digital security and safety

The Digital Britain website gives more information on each of these points, and general information about the Digital Economy Bill. Yesterday a majority of 142 MPs voted in favour of the bill and it’s now passed to the House of Lords for final approval.

There’s no doubt our laws need updating to reflect a world increasingly reliant on digital communication and information sharing. Under scrutiny I’m sure a majority of the bill makes absolute sense. Unfortunately there is an aspect of the bill that concerns file sharing and downloads which is quite controversial. There has been a huge public backlash, and the ISPs aren’t fans of it either.

ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are concerned about the burden of enforcing new laws on peer-to-peer sharing, and the inconsistency as it seems to ignore file sharing by other means (e.g. websites, ftp, emails etc). TalkTalk have even put a couple of petitions forward to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Guilty until proven innocent
The UK legal system is based on the presumption that those accused are innocent until proven guilty. A lot of the public backlash is because it seems to be that the reverse is true when it comes to the Digital Economy bill. ISPs would be allowed to suspend internet access to those suspected of downloading and sharing illegally until the situation has been proved either way.

Are you secure?
It seems a fair argument that everyone has responsibility to secure their own wi-fi connections. It’s also reasonable to say that a large proportion of people are technologically challenged, and setting up internet security is easier said than done. I have a computer related degree, work with them every day and have been completely flummoxed by internet connections in the past. If  ISP doesn’t provide a wireless router that is automatically password protected then setting it up yourself can be a nightmare. My parents currently have an unsecured network because my dad has given up trying to work out how to set the password (and believe me he’s tried!). The bill may deter the majority from risking illegal downloads, I have no doubt a minority will piggy-back on unsecured networks to continue downloading illegally.

A problem shared…
How many people live in a shared house or a group of flats where they don’t have control over how others use the internet? ISPs are already complaining about the additional burden of this bill, they won’t be voluntarily adding to their workload to find out exactly who is responsible. If ISPs start behaving like TV Licensing currently does, heavy handed threats even when you have your licence and are legally entitled to be left in peace, then the actions of a housemate or neighbour could see your internet connection “suspended” (disconnected) for who knows how long. The saving grace of TV Licensing is that they don’t just turn up and take your TV away, ISPs on the other hand could just switch you off.

Right to appeal
The bill includes an appeals process, but how long will that take? It’s easy for an ISP to stop your internet access, but getting that access back isn’t quite so simple. Most ISPs are a nightmare to deal with when you’re having basic problems with your connection. If they think you might have broken the law I can only imagine a long drawn out resolution process. If your business or work depends on your internet connection then it could be disastrous. Not to mention those who manage significant parts of their lives and finances online. A half-baked vague plan is just not good enough in a country where many of us, rightly or wrongly, depend on the internet for so much.

Interpretation
The other huge flaw is the possibility for misinterpretation, or even what seems to be a ‘reasonable’ interpretation that turns out to be highly unfair. If the bill is as unclear as has been reported then the law could be used maliciously against people, and in ways it wasn’t intended. Many of you will have heard that there is a campaign to reform UK libel laws. The way libel laws are currently open to interpretation has devastating consequences for individuals who actions seem perfectly reasonable and legal. The Digital Economy Bill could open up another avenue for abuse of the legal system. We can hope that the first few cases would see sensible precedents set, and more clarity in what exactly is legal. But that is a hope, not a certainty.

Public Internet Connections
The other huge hole in this bill is the issue of public networks. What does an ISP who provides an internet connection in a public place do? Trains, libraries, coffee shops, universities… there’s no end of places where you can pick up the internet, often needing do no more than provide an email address. If you’re determined to continue downloading content illegally there’s no need to compromise your own connection. There are plenty of ways to access other networks and use them for illegal downloads, with little chance of being traced. Again a majority will be deterred, but isn’t the point of this law to stop the persistent criminal minority? If the bill is passed then the owners of wi-fi hotspots will be responsible for any illegal content downloaded via the connection. A wrongly placed lawsuit and public internet access in the UK could take a huge step backwards. Considering this bill is meant to put the UK at the “leading edge of the global digital economy” it could end up shooting itself in the foot.

The debate about this bill goes on, but it’s now out of our hands. I’m not opposed to the Digital Economy Bill in principle. I think we need legislation to make sense of other laws in the contex of the digital world and support growth in the economy. I am torn between the need for this legislation now and the potential abuses it would open up.  Ideally there would be more time for a full debate in the public arena, but there isn’t. Chances are the House of Lords will pass this and it will all go quiet for months, possibly even a couple of years. A majority of us won’t notice a change and all the things I’ve suggested above won’t happen. But I have no doubt it will rear its head again at some point. My hope is that due to the pace of change in the digital economy there will be reform to the legislation sooner rather than later.

For me the Digital Economy Bill highlights a bigger problem with the “wash-up period”. More than ten bills are being considered before parliament is dissolved. Although that happens on Monday 12^th March, in reality the period to make decisions on these bills is only three days. I’m not convinced any sensible decisions can be taken under such time pressure, and when every party is keen to score points against the others. The argument should be that we’ve coped without the legislation until now, why not wait and get it right, rather than rush ahead and get it wrong. Once an election is announced politics is all about parties, not people, and passing laws in that circumstance shouldn’t be allowed.

Though I’m excited about the political process of an election, I’m also saddened by the current state of politics. I think that the few fantastic MPs we have in this country are overshadowed by the scandals of the many. I hate that the general tone of discussion about the election is about voting for the best of a bad lot. More than ever it makes me want to get involved and make a difference. There has to be plenty more people like me who are interested in building a democracy that we can be proud of.

Most people believe that this is just the way it is. Politics will never change. But I really think it can. After this election I hope that I can get involved, and find other people who want to prove that politics can be about representing our communities and our country. Politicians need to be more accountable to those they represent. I also believe that parties can, and should, work together. The entire system needs to be presented simply so people understand what affects them, why they should vote and how they can create change themselves. MPs can’t do everything, but if they work with their communities they can achieve so much. I know there are MPs who already work in this way, I just think that it needs to become the rule, rather than the exception.

I promise I will try not to bore you with election talk for the entire month! There’s just a couple of other things…

• If you are really struggling to decide who to vote for Vote for Policies is a brilliant website that helps you to understand which parties represent your views. http://voteforpolicies.org.uk
• If you’re not registered to vote you need to do it by the 20 April. It’s easily done by visiting The Electoral Commission (they also tell you how to find out if you’re already registered). Please don’t waste your vote. A low turn out gives parties like the BNP a bigger say. If you don’t vote you might as well be voting for the people you really don’t want in government. It’s better to vote for a party you vaguely agree with than no one at all. http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/
• Of course the wonderful BBC make following the election easy (if the Conservative party win they will have a fight on their hands, I’m not letting anyone destroy the BBC… I digress!) For those of you confused about it all there’s a whole section for first time voters and a really good FAQ section.