4 ms·

It's a gross over-simplicication to say that the shadow minister for culture, media and sport is the "Internet Minister". Whilst the internet definitely comes u

by estel 14y ago

It's a gross over-simplicication to say that the shadow minister for culture, media and sport is the "Internet Minister". Whilst the internet definitely comes under this department, in a year that this department was also responsible for delivering the Olympics, I don't know why I expect her be any more knowledgeable about the Internet than Archery.

objclxt 14y ago
Indeed - the submission headline is particularly stupid (in case it changes, right now it reads "UK's Internet Minister is particularly stupid, can't use the net". It's not the fault of this MP, it's the fault of the entire government (both present and previous) for setting up a department with such a huge remit. The Minister for CMS is responsible for the arts (film, stage, fine art, etc), sport (public funding thereof, etc), and media (everything under the sun: radio, TV, printed media, electronic media, etc). It is virtually impossible for whoever occupies the position to have mastery in every field he/she is responsible for. Terence Eden might think she's not very bright when it comes to the internet, but there's a lot of people in the arts despairing about both the incumbent and shadow CMS minister as well! Fundamentally, this problem isn't going to go away for some time. It's the product of merging several different posts and positions in an attempt to reduce the civil service budget.
- edent 14y ago
  The "particularly stupid" description comes from Helen Goodman herself. I agree that the department is far too over reaching.
  - objclxt 14y ago
    Oh, I know - I just did a double take, because for a minute I thought we actually had an internet minister. Government policy when it comes to all things digital is a total shambles, which is a real shame because on the one hand you have some parts of the civil service actively engaging with things like open data, open source, etc, and on the other you have the politicians being...well, politicians!
netcan 14y ago
The internet is more important than archery.
josephlord 14y ago
'Shadow Minister' means the official opposition's spokesperson on the topic represented by the real Minister. If Labour were to win in the next General Election the Labour Party leader would become the Prime Minister and may appoint a 'Shadow Minister' to the ministerial role they were shadowing or any other at their discretion. A little UKism that might have been missed by some.

by estel 14y ago

objclxt 14y ago

Indeed - the submission headline is particularly stupid (in case it changes, right now it reads "UK's Internet Minister is particularly stupid, can't use the net". It's not the fault of this MP, it's the fault of the entire government (both present and previous) for setting up a department with such a huge remit. The Minister for CMS is responsible for the arts (film, stage, fine art, etc), sport (public funding thereof, etc), and media (everything under the sun: radio, TV, printed media, electronic media, etc). It is virtually impossible for whoever occupies the position to have mastery in every field he/she is responsible for. Terence Eden might think she's not very bright when it comes to the internet, but there's a lot of people in the arts despairing about both the incumbent and shadow CMS minister as well! Fundamentally, this problem isn't going to go away for some time. It's the product of merging several different posts and positions in an attempt to reduce the civil service budget.

edent 14y ago
The "particularly stupid" description comes from Helen Goodman herself. I agree that the department is far too over reaching.
- objclxt 14y ago
  Oh, I know - I just did a double take, because for a minute I thought we actually had an internet minister. Government policy when it comes to all things digital is a total shambles, which is a real shame because on the one hand you have some parts of the civil service actively engaging with things like open data, open source, etc, and on the other you have the politicians being...well, politicians!

netcan 14y ago

The internet is more important than archery.

josephlord 14y ago

'Shadow Minister' means the official opposition's spokesperson on the topic represented by the real Minister. If Labour were to win in the next General Election the Labour Party leader would become the Prime Minister and may appoint a 'Shadow Minister' to the ministerial role they were shadowing or any other at their discretion. A little UKism that might have been missed by some.