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Simon Barrow’s “Thinking Aloud” yesterday was late out since he was lost in the wilds of Birmingham (I didn’t ask for further details, but a canal was not involved).

The piece is about the limitations of the formal political process. Simon says:

“I am a ‘political animal’. Always have been. But political processes can easily become overbearing, distorting, disconnected and over-determining of the many features of life that they touch upon. I explore how and why the church might play some role in generating alternatives in this area. There’s also an anecdote about Nelson Mandela at the 9th WCC Assembly in Harare ten years ago, illustrating my point that “grace as well as power is needed to triumph over injustice, and to hold on to the vulnerable dream that a different world is possible.”

I see an echo of this in the demand that knife attacks be solved by policing and policy; like many things, I think that the long term solutions lie in the area of recovering a human scale and trust in local life. That cannot be mandated, since it has to be voluntary.

Visit Simon Barrow’s article The Limits of Politics.

For all too many people in Britain, politics appears to be a form of organised bickering and special pleading that intrudes in unwelcome or un-engaging ways on everyday life, but just has to be accepted – like road humps and rain clouds. For another, much smaller class of persons, it is a fascinating and all-absorbing occupation, seeping into every corner of human activity, demanding careful attention and observation.

The former demographic is, one can be sure, far closer to the heart of the Ministry of Justice, currently charged with finding ways of encouraging participation among the large number of people registered to vote who rarely participate in general elections and almost never in local ones – roughly 40 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, the professional political class, policy researchers, the commentariat and readers of worthy websites such as this one (who together probably make up less than 5 per cent of the population) are bound to be the ones salivating at the launch of Iain Dale’s new, all-encompassing print publication and online resource, Total Politics, which comes yelping at us like an excitable, over-informed puppy.

Following on from Tom Watson MP’s release of a Code for Participation for Civil Servants online, I thought I would turn it into a Wordle.

Since the Statement of Principles is free of waffle and padding, it seems to work quite well. Click through for the full size version.

This morning Sandef Rhyferys has published a translation of a letter to David Cameron from Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Director of the Institute of Welsh Politics at the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University.

Professor Wyn Jones addresses the future possibilities for Welsh politics, and the future of devolved government in Wales. He argues for a further shift to greater powers for the Welsh Assembly.

It is a long letter, and I have quoted the first part below. I have not indented the quote on this occasion.

From Sanddef:

Translation of a letter to David Cameron written by Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Director of the Institute of Welsh Politics at the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University. The original welsh version can be found in the current edition of the Welsh current affairs magazine, Barn.

I sense an outbreak of tabloid blogging coming on over at Mr Eugenides’ taverna…

At Henley we know about the two Miss GB Contestants, but we now also have the “Fur Play Party” candidate, who is apparently (OK - it’s his book) endorsed by Mr David Milliband MP the Metric Minister:

“I have played cricket with Richard Heller. This book is as playful as his bowling and unique as his batting. I hope it drums up interest in politics and cricket alike.”

The new Total Politics magazine has just launched their new website www.totalpolitics.com.

My very first impressions are that there are a lot of interesting features there, including a local politics blog - which is something British Politics is crying out for a least a year.