Does the G8 Summit matter? The Bloggers' view
17.30. 1 July 2005

We put this seemingly straightforward question to some of the UK's most influential bloggers and asked them to keep their responses short and sharp. Happily, right or left, optimistic or pessimistic, all replies were suitably pithy.

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Pride of place goes to The Sharpener, which eschewed traditional prose in favour of a Renga (that's a form of collaborative Japanese poetry for the uninitiated). The Sharpener's effort includes the following lines which will give you a flavour of the rest:

"Agribusiness and cheap fuel
Don't vote, but count double"

Elsewhere, Richard D North from the libertarian Social Affairs Unit Blog declares (with a whiff of relief) that the "G8 leaders are likely to do no great harm and no great good either". He continues: "They'll split the difference between their voters' reluctance to do much on climate change and aid, and the campaigners' longing that they can do a huge amount."

From a similar political starting point Dr Madsen Pirie from the Adam Smith Institute Blog puts greater faith in the potency of the G8. The Summit represents "a real chance to change the world", she says because "for the first time there is an appreciation that poorer nations become rich through trade rather than aid".

Lenin's Tomb says simply that G8 "matters alright – it’s a matter of life and death", while Perfect.co.uk declares that "there is no-one else".

Meanwhile, An Englishman's Castle compares the Summit to "one of those stultifying board meetings you asked to attend and then you realise all the decisions have already been taken else where, and you weren't in the know."

For Chicken Yoghurt, the Prime Minister himself is already lowering expectations. As a result Blair will "pounce hungrily upon any crumbs that fall from the banqueting table at Gleneagles and declare them a feast."

Read all the posts here