Comments on: Is Tom Watson MP stealing or reading? The Tories think the former.

by: Whitehall 2.0 : Global Dashboard

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:59:48 +0000

[...] (There’s also an amusing anecdote in it about him making a speech in which he observes of open source that “One, nobody owns it. Two, everybody uses it. And three, anyone can improve it.” – whereupon Two days later a political opponent sent out an email laying claim that in fact they are the ‘owners’ of these new ideas. I was accused of plundering policies from the Conservatives. [...]

by: 451 CAOS Theory » David Cameron: open source visionary or opportunist?

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:43:52 +0000

[...] - UPDATE Permalink | Email This Post | Technorati Links | Bookmark on del.icio.us | digg it Categories:Software [...]

by: Tom Watson MP » Blog Archive » Power of Information: New taskforce and speech

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:54:35 +0000

[...] Two days later a political opponent sent out an email laying claim that in fact they are the ‘owners’ of these new ideas. I was accused of plundering policies from the Conservatives. [...]

by: Nick Temple

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:23:33 +0000

Nick, in reference to this comment http://www.podnosh.com/blog/2008/03/11/georgeosbourneandtomwatson/#comment-65054.

That\’s a truly frightening thought. Although Cameron does seem keen on co-ops of late. All we need is Labour to become a CIC (asset lock and all).....

by: osimod

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:33:33 +0000

Nick I see what you mean, I wasn’t implying political support. I’m not THAT italian

by: Nick Booth

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:19:39 +0000

I understand. That needs explaining. Under UK law a charity cannot be political – support any political party etc. mySociety exists to create practical open online tools to further democracy in the UK. To that end it is both natural and right that they should be talking to both the government and the opposition on how government needs to use the web well.

So maybe you’re a touch too Italian?

by: osimod

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:02:28 +0000

Hi Nick
what I meant is that I was surprised by the mysociety post which associated their “consultancy work” with the 2 speeches, making it look like they helped both speeches. Perhaps I am naive (or too Italian) but it’s surprising to see the same people giving consultancy to both parties… which is good of course as we largely follow the views of MySociety on these issues.

by: Nick Booth

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:41:36 +0000

Thanks David for chucking in that link to the mySociety – which is, as ever, presented in the measured non-inflammatory tones of mysociety. We mentioned the Cameron speech here:

http://www.podnosh.com/blog/2008/03/01/cameronmysocietyconervativescraping/

not least in praise of a party leader bothering to care about open information in a public setting. Tom Steinberg popped up in the comments to make sure the record was straight.

by: Nick Booth

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:35:50 +0000

Nick – it’s exactly like that. The questions is how to get minds focussed on solving social problems rather than scoring political points – perhaps we shuld sub contract both government and opposition to social enterprise?

by: osimod

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:31:47 +0000

Maybe a hint on the similarities comes from this post by Francis Irving
http://www.mysociety.org/2008/03/13/two-speeches/

by: Tim Ireland

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:25:41 +0000

“Also, it’s well known that an anonymous blog came from Tom’s Westminster office breaking his own rule number one.”

Evidence, please.

by: Nick Temple

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:45:02 +0000

Whatever one thinks of the parties involved, it seems a bizarre e-mail because there are very few similarities in the way Tom / George phrase things. It’s like me and you, Nick, reading the same report (Tom Steinberg / Ed Mayo) and then writing posts about our reflections….and even then that report contained long-established ideas about open source / data use etc.

Not really interested in the political points: more interested that both parties engage with the agenda.

by: Praguetory

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:30:42 +0000

Collaborate when you can, I say, but there’s no point collaborating with people who are part of the problem you’re trying to overcome.

I’ve used the web to assist with many campaigns to promote change within my party and am or have been involved in many cross-party campaigns. For example, I’m the only Conservative mentioned at this site. But I do have my limits.

The idea of collaborating with a person who managed to remain silent during cash for peerages, donorgate and the MP expense scandals having previously done a youtube on ‘cleaning up politics’ is a bridge too far for me.

by: Nick Booth

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:20:15 +0000

Thanks for the comment Dominic. I get the feeling you see the social web as a tool for party politicking rather than collaboration.

by: Praguetory

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:15:41 +0000

I don’t find the Tory response to be old media or new media. Does new media involve human nature changing or mean that political parties will stop managing their brand? I don’t think so. This press release is surely about reinforcing the (convincing) narrative that it’s the Tories who are making the running on government policy (needling Tom in the process is just an added benefit).

If I were making a point about Tom’s utterances it would be the breath-taking hypocrisy. For all his utopian guff about empowering users when push comes to shove in the real world, Tom’s only up for real open communication if he’s setting the rules. I prefer Dizzy’s ideas about how to be a public sector blogger.

http://dizzythinks.net/2008/03/guide-to-anonymous-civil-servant.html

Also, it’s well known that an anonymous blog came from Tom’s Westminster office breaking his own rule number one. It sounds great in theory, but a meaningful cross-party debate involving Tom Watson is an oxymoron.