Terms of engagement

A lively discussion has been taking place on the Forest website following our reaction to last week's Budget.

Given the nature of one or two comments I thought it was only polite to respond. My response won't surprise readers of Taking Liberties because the same policy applies here:

Dear All,

Thanks to everyone who has commented. I read all the comments on this website and on my own blog, Taking Liberties. We record all feedback even though we may not agree with some of it.

In response to one comment, it is true that I rarely engage in discussion online. There is a simple reason for this. Quite often my words are misquoted or my comments are taken out of context and repeated elsewhere where I am criticised for something I haven't said.

Also, I hate the lazy, often hostile tit-for-tat style of debate that passes for 'discussion' on many online forums and I prefer not to fuel the fire. You know the sort of thing. These 'discussions' can go on for days because someone always wants the satisfaction of having the last word.

In my view too it is better if some of the issues mentioned here are discussed by me in private, not on a public forum. Catch me in a good mood with a drink in my hand at one of Forest's many events and I will happily engage – once I am reasonably sure that you are not going to report the contents of a private conversation online. (It has happened.)

Alternatively you can email me direct and I will reply privately but bear in mind that I am even more careful about what I put in writing. Sorry if this sounds overly cautious but once bitten, twice shy.

Offline I engage with lots of people. Online I would rather be accused of not engaging than get dragged into some interminable argument that no-one comes out of with any credit.

Stephen Williams got the balance right when he posted about plain packaging in January. He allowed people to make their point but limited his engagement to one or two comments. (There were over 1300 the last time I looked.) He came out of that quite well, I thought.

PS. The backlash to my response above began almost as soon as I had posted it. That is why I rarely engage in online forums. If people feel negatively towards you nothing you say will change their minds and anything you do say (even a joke) will be used in evidence against you. All you do is stoke the fire.

I think I'll stick to writing this blog (where people are welcome to comment all day long) while posting the occasional article on mega blogs such as the Huffington Post and ConservativeHome.