There was a time when the comments boxes on this blog were an occasionally interesting forum for debate and discussion. However lately it is clear that one or two wreckers have been using it as a form of graffiti. I’m not at all bothered by the infantile personal comments, I get far worse in my email intray from people accusing me of class treachery and being in the pay of George Bush etc. It is the kind of debate I was well used to when I used to participate in far left mailing lists.
However I do spend a fair bit of time trying, in my amateurish way, to make this blog interesting and accessible to people who pop in. The first time visitor who sees a comment box full of snide comments and childish insults is not going to be attracted back. I’ve seen a few once promising discussion forums wrecked by such anonymous ‘trolling’. So I have taken down the comments option, which were pretty unreliable software anyway.
But I do want to hear readers views and opinions and I am more than happy to post them on the site. Critics such as Richard B have made good points and I don’t want the end of comments to stop him or others from making their case constructively. All you have to do is send me an email (the address is to the left) and every few days I’ll post a selection of the mail bag.
