Do the left hate the right more than the right hate the left?

[Eve]

Comment I came across..on twitter I think somewhere.

I thought there was a large element of truth in it?

Views?

sorry, heathen!

My own personal experience of running a political blog and publishing a political book in the past year is this.

Both the Left and the Right will criticise you.

The Right will criticise you if you are ever partisan - but the Left will criticise you for a display of even-handedness.

"the Left will criticise you for a display of even-handedness"

Everyone thinks they are even-handed don't they? If you feel you're getting more criticism from the left it suggests you might be a bit further to the right than you think, no?

yes, the left hate the right more.

the right feel superficially patronisingly superior and actually secretly and deeply afraid

No, I don't feel I am getting more criticism from the left - just a different kind. What I find interesting is that a politically impartial book and blog - one which my publishers had to monitor very carefully to ensure non-bias, especially during the campaign - can be accused by one side of bias when it's setting out the case for both sides. Or all sides.

interesting - do you mean the left were taking a 'if you're not for us you must be against us' line more than the right?

I think on MN, the left are often outright rude to the right, and indeed to anyone they suspect of being on the right.

During this election whenever I raised the issue that I was really worried about GB's views vis a vis borrowing I was slapped down as if I werew a Daily Mail reading, rasist slimeball who personally wants to see children out on the street.

Actually I have been a life long Labour supporter but have recently had serious misgiving over party centralisation and the economy.

But I do think these things filter down from the top. Any desent is met with vociferous condemnation. Anyone raising immigration in the aprty is branded a rasist. Anyone concerned about employment lawas is a fascist. Anyone questioning the moves to ban home education is anti-social services. Anyone questioning the borrowing hates the poor.

It has to stop. We have to allow debate.

seth - I think that's exactly what it's like in the Labour party now.

Obviously the divisions of yesteryear were holding us back and in fighting was counter productive. I'm glad that Kinock began the unifying process. He was right to do it.

But over the Blair years, no doubt much due to Campbell, things went too far. And Brown has been very totalitarian. Very tribal. Desent has been stamped on in every form.

I'm glad the party can now regroup and decide what it actually wants. Allow some discussion. But it will take a while for the fixed mind sets to change.

So when did Blair ever win a majority of the vote, by the way? A majority of seats is not the same thing