Is this a blog I see before me?

What's this? A blog? Radical. What has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun, as they say. So why bother?

Well, here's the thing. The blogosphere may be noisy, but it's the left and right which are the most crowded. Hoist a virtual butterfly-net into the opinion-rich ether, and what you catch tends to have only one wing. There are plenty of vocal bloggers bringing you their own brand of common sense, free thinking or progressive politics. But the middle is a bit sparse, in our view. The moderates are missing!

Your present authors, then, are a loose-knit cabal of deep-thought-types who, on the whole, believe that moderation is not just an insipid compromise between the people with the big ideas. Instead, we think it's the best way for us to conduct ourselves as a national (and international) community - and that goes for politics, the media, and pretty much everything else.

Ah, politics and the media - topics about which everybody is talking, but few, it sometimes seems, are really listening. Ironic, then, that we're adding our online voices to the clamour. True, but we have to admit that we hope for a few readers (at least!) who, like us, have been listening out for the voice of reason, moderation, and good sense - not the right claiming to be the voice of the long-suffering majority, or the left laying claim to the opinions of the people, or even the media thinking on our behalf, but genuine open-mindedness on any and every issue. We think people might be looking for that, and we hope that this is where they'll find it - and contribute to it.

So if you like a good, reasoned debate without going over the top, welcome. If you value tolerance and respect for their own sake, rather than because they are banner issues for a wider agenda, then this could be the place for you. If you believe you know better, then this is probably also the place for you, because we hope you will join us in debate and, who knows, you might just persuade us. Allons, as they say, y.