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is the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s new website giving a unique way into the proceedings of the UK's national political institutions and the European Parliament. It's a public gallery where you can search, find and watch the politics that affects you.

The immediate impact of the site comes from the of live and on demand coverage from the House of Commons, House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly and business in Brussels and Strasbourg. But there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Fancy stuff too.

Back in August I went along to a preview demonstration of this site and it was great to hear directly from Mark Coyle, the Launch Editor of the project, that he's keen to see this used in schools, particularly with our focus on Modern Studies here in Scotland. This use in schools has been one purpose of the project all along, as reflected in Director General Mark Thompson's address to the Westminster Parliament in 2008.

We'll be peppering our Bitesize sites for Standard Grade and Higher Modern Studies with links to Democracy Live with its explanations of how laws are made, institution guides et al. This will help us tie our relevant content together, from our mixed back catalogue of sites for Intermediate and Higher Modern Studies, to clips from tv programmes over the years such as our recent Democracy in Action.

But it goes beyond Modern Studies and politics. Citizenship and modern media literacy come into play too. And how about research or debating/public speaking skills? With the ability to search for keywords within video clips and coverage from real-time to historic moments, the site will grow and grow into a powerful reference tool.

Will it help to engage people, young and old, in politics? Perhaps it won't do much to break the misperception that it's boring men in suits prattling on. But the immediacy and sophistication of the site and can surely intrigue anyone with even a passing interest, from The Thick Of It devotees to people who dip in and out of if there's someone 'interesting' on the panel. Incidentally, you have until November 15th to register for .

If nothing else, I think it helps to bring a little reality into politics, if that makes sense; to bring it to life a tad. And if you can show someone, with a dollop of enthusiasm and explanation, what goes on while we're at work or school, you may just spark something. You may also get more of an idea of the characters and personalities of the people that can play a big part in your life, whether you like it or not. Maybe not quite Big Brother. But you can vote them out.

So come on then, teachers and tutors, parents and pupils, let's hear if and how you're going to use the site. Let your friends and colleagues know about Democracy Live and tell them we'd love to hear their comments.

The website is and you can follow the updates of on Twitter.