I’m bound to get some criticism for this, but I’ve just been watching Blair’s message to Sarkozy on YouTube. It’s neat. The whole Downing Street channel is a good idea.

Yeah yeah, this technology and YouTube have been around for ages, and yes, Cameron has been doing it for ever and, yawn, the Labour Party has their own channel too. That’s not the point. The Cameron and Labour channels are purely political and are therefore dull, clunky and don’t engage.

The Downing Street channel, being launched just as Blair leaves, is a chance to try a different way of engaging with the electorate. Am I pleased that a Labour Prime Minister is congratulating a French right-wing President? No, not really, but Blair long ago gave up doing the party politically correct thing. However, I am pleased that they’re finally using sites like YouTube at a level which is slightly above the usual brick-throwing political stuff which turns people off.

It’s possible that no-one will actually watch it, but it’s a start.

(perhaps I need a John McDonnell clip to balance things up! I’ll look for an appropriate one here!)