One of the more gratifying aspects of the development of the Gazette’s website in the last three years has been the democratisation of comment on our content. Some readers may still not be aware there are comment threads on news stories. Many contributions offer fresh and original insights on the topics to hand, which can usefully be recycled back into our journalism. Long may this continue.

Not all, though. As with all open-access, news-led websites that achieve a critical mass of popularity, the site attracts a small minority of ranters (those who type in capital letters being some of the worst); choleric dispensers of personal abuse aimed at those who disagree with their posts; and the frankly paranoid, such as those who appear convinced that Gazette journalists are in receipt of bribes from prominent advertisers.

Still - although those posters who do not comply with our T&Cs will quite properly have their submissions declined - that is the nature of the medium. Public discourse has a rough-and-ready quality that would be difficult to temper without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. So, if you feel strongly about one or more issues of the day, we want to hear from you.