24

Mar

2010

19: Lobbying Scandals, US Healthcare Reform and #CashGordon

This week Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone, and Sara Scarlett of Liberal Vision, joined regulars Mark Thompson and Stuart Sharpe to talk about the events of the week in politics.

Download the MP3 file, Subscribe using iTunes or listen using the player below.

Topics covered include (but are not limited to):

  • A joint investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4′s Dispatches exposed a number of MPs apparently offering to lobby the Government for cash. We discuss the scandal, and whether this is reminiscent of the sleaze which marred the final days of John Major’s government.
  • President Obama has passed his landmark healthcare reform bill after a political skirmish that has lasted many months. Is this a symbol of his tenacity and negotiating skill, or is the bill too much of a compromise? Also, there’s been some suggestion that the bill is unconstitutional and may need to be revised.
  • The Tories #cashgordon campaign website included an unmoderated Twitter feed, leading to the site being exploited first by Labour activists keen to spread messages opposing the campaign. The Twitter feed also contained a major security flaw which hackers and other ‘online mischief makers’ could use to maliciously redirect visitors to other sites. We discussed whether presenting user-generated content unmoderated shows bravery on the part of the Tory web team, or naïvety.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

3 Comments | Tags: , , ,

3 Responses to “19: Lobbying Scandals, US Healthcare Reform and #CashGordon”

  1. Tim Ireland says:
    March 24, 2010 at 11:23 am

    “leading to the site being exploited first by Labour activists”

    ORLY? Would you care to identify any of them?

  2. Stu says:
    March 24, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    Apologies – careless grammar. Will correct when I get back to the computer. ‘Labour activists’ were exploiting the unmoderated nature of the Twitter feed to post comments attacking the site; ‘hackers and others’ expoiting the security flaw. The intention is not to suggest that Labour activists are solely responsible for abusing the sites lax security.

  3. Malcolm Clarke says:
    March 28, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Hi,

    Very much enjoyed the shows. Stumbled across at random while scouring iTunes. Subscribed, good work guys!

    I will plug on my blog, which is not big but gets a few viewers. Should hopefully result in a few listeners for you.

    Thanks,
    Malcolm Clarke

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