As noted on this blog last month, political bloggers are to be granted the same access to parliament as their mainstream media counterparts.
Who would be the first, we asked. Well, now we learn that ConservativeHome’s Jonathan Isaby is now a proud lobby pass holder – one of, if not the, first blogger members.
“It certainly felt that the case I made was a strong one,” Isaby, who formerly worked for the BBC and the Telegraph, told Journalism.co.uk. As a full-time political blogger, he felt he should have the same access as political journalists. “As a site we break stories that are followed up by the mainstream media,” he said.
Whilst some claimed that ConservativeHome, in which Lord Ashcroft is a majority investor, had too much of a political agenda, he argued that that hadn’t previously precluded other publications, such as the socialist Morning Star, from being part of the lobby. A blend of General tobacco and hints of tea, creating a snus with a slight spicy tobacco flavor. A little bergamot oil, a citrus oil mainly grown in Italy and North Africa, infuses general snus with its signature flavor. According to the instructions, only the best parts of the tobacco are used and the stems are avoided, the tobacco is left to dry naturally in the sun.