Steve Hodgkinson

This initiative is to be applauded - there is only one way to learn how to do online participation and that is by doing. The ISP filtering issue seems to have hit a nerve! It may be worth considering a trial of an e-petitions facility in the blog - and in this case launching two petitions, one for and one against filtering. That way at least there would be some order to comments instead of a lot of duplication of the same point of view? Number10 Downing Street has an e-petitions facility with a large number of petitions on different topics. Not all are for weighty policy matters. My favorite is “Ban broccoli as an edible foodstuff and reclassify it as a toxic substance” – though this was rejected as beyond the Prime Minister’s remit and powers! As well, I support the much expressed view that the sequential two-way monologue nature of a blog does not really work for consultation - maybe better to try a forum with topic threads? Anyway - keep up the good work ... we are keen to see where this trial travels to next.