David Miliband's blog *will* return

I posted recently about whether or not David Miliband could break through the diplomatic cordon of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and blog in his role as Foreign Minister.

Simon Dickson reports direct from a live webchat he had with Miliband himself that the blog will return. It's quite a revealing snippet of conversation.

Simon:

"The new Foreign Sec’s fondness for new communication methods - blogging, YouTube videos, and so on - is well documented. Restarting his ministerial blog was famously his top priority when he took over at Defra: but there’s been nothing out of FCO so far. Has the more conservative (small ‘c’) atmosphere of the Diplomatic Service changed his view of such transparent, direct channels? How can the FCO, whose centralised methods changed little over the course of centuries, respond to the ‘I can’ society he described earlier this year?

His response:

I promise not! I am completely committed to the idea that diplomacy needs to engage the public as well as diplomatic elite and also to the notion that I need to lead that in the Foreign Office. So the blog will be back, supplemented by other tools for discussion and debate."

It all sounds very promising indeed. A return of the blog and "other tools for discussion and debate" all from the heady position of Foreign minister.

In other news, Simon also flags up Gordon Brown's apparent commitment to participatory politics. That's got a ring to it hasn't it? You read it here first (probably).

Technorati Tags: David Miliband, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, politics, ministerial blogging, Gordon Brown

Comments

[Ellee]

Hi Simon, I had this story too from a good source in July:

http://elleeseymour.com/2007/07/11/david-miliband-might-write-foreign-office-blog/

[Ellee]

Hi Simon, I had this story too from a good source in July:

http://elleeseymour.com/2007/07/11/david-miliband-might-write-foreign-office-blog/

[Ellee]

Hi Simon, I had this story too from a good source in July:

http://elleeseymour.com/2007/07/11/david-miliband-might-write-foreign-office-blog/

[Ellee]

Hi Simon, I had this story too from a good source in July:

http://elleeseymour.com/2007/07/11/david-miliband-might-write-foreign-office-blog/

[Simon Collister]

So good you had to say it four times? ;)