Lawyers may join Big Conversation

More from Jamie Roy, the man whose Planetary Tribe consultancy started a Big Conversation website all of two years before Tony Blair's recent effort.

Roy's pleased with the attention - his site has received more than 5,000 hits since Labour launched its own on Friday - but is annoyed that the government won't talk to him.

"We've tried to talk to Labour and they have not responded at all," he said. "We will now seek legal advice."

Labour claims it had no knowledge of Roy's forum, though it includes many of the topics its own does, with the added advantage that comments remain on the site rather than disappearing into an inbox.

Yet Planetary Tribe ran a research project for the NHS for 18 months using the site until the contract was cut without explanation last November.

Shortly before there was a meeting with the department of the e-envoy, the Cabinet Office branch that encourages electronic commerce and service.

"They told us how much they liked the project, then it was cut," said Roy. "We were left bemused."

One possible reason is that Planetary Tribe were not registered approved contractors.

Roy is determined to distance his site from Labour. It's already had abusive messages and his online poll shows 90 per cent of people believe such conversations should be free from political control.

"All we want is a conversation with them," he says. That might need to start with a lawyer's letter.

© 2003 Financial Times