I never cease to be astounded and dismayed by the level of partisanship on Twitter. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve dropped in and out on some truly shameful “conversations”: fueled by the latest scandal and whipped on by MPs who really should know better, thousands of horrible, snide, vicious tweets have been sent: tweets that bypass the basis of the argument and delve straight into mud-slinging.

Of course we all do it to a greater or lesser extent. However there is a difference between an honest and passionate argument and just being rude, a difference that we can all recognise when we see it. One of the things that I think (particularly the younger members of) the Twittersphere forgets to ask is: would you say this to someone’s face? A search over the last few BBC Question Time Tweets would show you the particularly inane, and often just plain rude, examples of a “robust political debate” as I’m sure it’s perpetrators would term it. I read these and the question that springs to mind is: do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

In all seriousness, I’m worried: I’m worried that this is becoming the norm; I’m worried that this is becoming the accepted, mainstream tone of the political debate on Twitter. This really concerns me: not just because I find it distasteful and childish and symptomatic of the worst part of politics; but because this is not what grown-up politics should be about. The population of the country on Twitter is small; the population also interested in Twitter is smaller still — but it is the grassroots, passionate part. And slowly we are inculcating them with the sense that this the good and right in political debate. We have brainwashed them into politics of the populist, demagogic type.

Well, I say enough. It’s time to re-engage with the issues. Spurred on by the excellent “Positive Policy” series arranged by Steve (@OxfordSpring), and encouraged by the warm reception so far, I want to reclaim the political Twittersphere for those of us who are actually interested in politics. And I think that Mother’s Day serves as a perfect holiday for this landmark.

My original plan was to inoculate against the invective with a whole weekend of positivity: a moratorium on political attacks for two days. Of course this is too long for Twitter. So my call to action is this:

This Friday, March 12th, I would like everyone to try to ensure that all their political tweets are positive. No mudslinging. No personal, ad hominem, attacks. No “#ivenevervoted…”; no “#labourlost”; no “#toriesout”. No straw men. If you must say something political, say something positive or at least grounded in reality. Don’t even mention the party you don’t plan on voting for. We can even use the #positivepolitics tag.

And anyone who’s bad will have a note sent to their mother.