The biggest problem with a lack of sensible and respectful political debate on this forum is the unfortunate domination of certain groups. The last general election resulted in the political right, made up of Conservatives and the UKIP having a significant majority support in the UK. The EU referendum resulted in clear support for leaving the EU. Any new poster on these political sites would be amazed that the views of the majority of the electorate are neither represented or tolerated because of the views of a few aggressive and dominant long term posters who make it clear that alternative views are unwelcome. We have had several recent examples of posters with Brexit and/or right of centre views being bullied off the site. Well done guys.
SH, I suggest it is the way you debate, rather than the debate itself, that people have a problem with. When you actually give your opinions, it can make for interesting reading. Unfortunately what much of it seems to be is you Copy & Pasting a very long article which no-one can really be bothered to read (especially the formatting of it on this site). Maybe if you just put a link to the actual article, a little summary paragraph what it is highlighting, then give your opinion why it is good (or not good) for the UK, it would create a debate on the subject! This site would be extremely boring if everyone agreed, so healthy debate is good - it's good to get opinions on both sides. I wanted to remain, but now we have voted to leave, I just hope that the UK government can get the best deal for the UK people. It was never going to be as bad as some people said it would be if we left, while it won't be as good as many leavers hopes. The whole process was a bit of a shambles - neither side came across with many facts, but was more interested in trying to discredit the other side.
My debating style does not explain the bullying off the site of posters such as wear-yellow and more recently Asimov, a committed Tory who was horrified by the abuse he got for daring to post anything right of centre. He commented that 'there were lots of other boards where you get a good balanced argument'. Unfortunately he thought the hassle was not worth it. You must ask yourself why other right of centre posters don't bother anymore?
It is sad that Asimov and WY felt they could no longer contribute to the debate to balance the predominantly liberal/socialist slant of most of the posters. My leanings are to the right but I do not have the inclination or time or knowledge to contribute but I do feel that any view right of centre is derided for the most part. Yes sometimes it gets a bit heated but that's ok if it remains courteous. Lets face it left and right will never agree as they don't really get where the other side is coming from and while the left is quite happy to debate ad nauseum, the right just gets on with life secure in the knowledge that their views are correct also. Keep up the side SH, if you can be bothered.
