New Generation Network

Interesting new manifesto, of which the blogosphere's own Sunny Hundal has had no small role in. The CiF piece related to it has some refreshing lines. I liked this one:

"We need an approach that discards the older politics of representation through government sanctioned gate-keepers."

Absolutely. For example, expecting an old guard of imams who represent entrenched interests to represent the voice of 'moderate Islam' that will draw radicalised Muslim youth away from extremist organisations is a bit like expecting the Moderator of the General Assembly to bring Rangers bigots into line. They'll need some fresh thinking, so this looks to be a promising start. The first to the microphone lot need to be challenged - because in many cases that's the only reason we hear so much from them.