Over the next few days, I’m going to highlight some of the blogs which I read on a regular basis. I’ll end the series with the award for my blog of the year. I can already hear the apathy set in around the world as bloggers wonder if they will get the no very coveted award. I’m starting with politics because it’s the easiest category. There are numerous political blogs in the UK though right wing bloggers tend to dominate the scene for some reason.
Archbishop Cranmer’s blog is subtitled examining religio-political agendas with politico-religious objectives. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but Cranmer’s blog is generally thought provoking and worth a read. I don’t always agree with Cranmer’s politics and I generally disagree with his view of the Church. Cranmer seems to advocate a return to the Christendom model where the Church wielded secular power a situation I’m very glad to see the back of. However, it is good to see someone seek to seriously apply a Christian mindset to contemporary issues in the way Cranmer does.
Guido Fawkes: Tittle-tattle, rumours and gossips about Westminster’s mother of parliaments. Written from the perspective of the only man to enter parliament with honest intention. The intention being to blow it up with gunpowder. This is the place where rumours of scandal and sleaze at Westminster tend to first appear. Rather frighteningly, all too many of them turn out to be true. The content can sometimes be a little racey, and you may not want your grandmother to know that you read it.
Ian Dale’s Diary. Political commentary, analysis and gossip from the heart of Westminster. Ian is a conservative party activist and his blog tends to reflect this, but it has to be said that he is generally generous and fair to his political opponents. For this reason, and not just because he is the only political blogger that I regularly read who wasn’t apparently burned at the stake years ago, I regard Ian’s as the best political blog I read.
I do sometimes read Nick Robinson’s BBC political blog, but though Nick is a superb TV and Radio reporter, his blog lacks the cutting edge of the ones I’ve listed above. Perhaps if he was burned at the stake it might improve?
I should also mention Riverbend’s excellent Baghdad burning (though I wish it had a proper RSS feed) and John Cole’s Informed Comment for their excellent commentary on the Middle East.