I would feel churlish if I did not thank Richard for this gracious apology. So long had passed, with uproar in the media and enforced silence on the matter here, that I had little hope of such a gesture. I am delighted to be wrong on that score.

However, like others above, I have reservations: about the small value attached to the forum's history and activity; about the reckless deletion of posts, both here and on the forum, and of user accounts; about the petty 'rick-rolling', the alleged airbrushing of admin logs, the announcement of a sudden imposition of a new system rather than a gradual and genuine consultation... All of these things the site owners are free to do. But boy were they ill-advised. And that leaves me uneasy about the site's management, and generally feeling sour about the place.

(I have also had my eyes opened like never before to the laziness of the British media!)

I wish the best for Richard and the site and I expect I'll be popping by. But at the moment I'm finding the air a little freer over at RatSkep.