Please be assured – I am not proposing to stop taking your contributions, which make this website interesting and lively.
My point was a simple one – I do not want any of you to end up in legal difficulties by making allegations against a person or institution you cannot prove. I have been cutting these out but given the volume I will sometimes simply have to delete the whole post rather than edit it for you. So please, once you have written it, just go through and delete for me the bits where you accuse X of being a crook, Y of breaking the law, and Z of being a moron or worse. There are better ways of making your good points.
Some suggest I take on staff to handle this for me. I am happy to pay the server and technology bill myself, but I haven’t the money to pay for a helper. Nor can I start charging this to the taxpayer, as some think.
Some of you think I am editing in order to protect the Conservative party, or because it is a Conservative site. This is not the case. I give Conservatives the same protection from abuse as I give Labour Ministers in any editing I do – no more, no less.
October 11, 2008
John,
I haven't read through all of the comments on previous posts, but do you not have the facility to "turn off" comments, as other bloggers do? It'd be a pity to lose your thoughts here because of the acts of others.
October 11, 2008
John I am sure you do. and this has been the best site by far in explaining and discusssing the current problems we have.
The BBC never give you any credit and just mock you at every oppotunity. Their left wing bias is now more open and visible than ever before.
More and more people are reading you as your information is more balanced than the BBC will ever be.
I would have nothing to do with the BBC if I were you and use this to show your points of view. The BBC think it is all a right wing free for all. What I read is common sense.
October 11, 2008
Fair enough. We, the posters, should take a bit more responsibility for our own comments. A good conservative sentiment, and one I agree with.
October 11, 2008
I want to repeat what I said earlier:
Thank you for a super blog!
October 12, 2008
Dear John,
That is very sound advice and I do hope that the said guilty parties take it ! Your views on the recent financial crisis have been very wise and let us hope that you continue to put them forward – hopefully as a member of the shadow cabinet !
Kind regards
Matthew
P.S.
Thanks for publishing my posts – I prefer positive solutions rather than playing the blame game and just moaning ! I know that one ought to learn from past errors but it is important to have a positive policy agenda constructed with a view to stopping those errors being repeated so that things get better.
October 13, 2008
I hope people will take note. And thank you for thoughtful and frequent blogs. Your industry is exceptional. It is interesting to compare the number, as well as the quality, of your blogging to that of Nick Robinson, say.