I think most have been around for long enough to know that moderating decisions have always been taken collectively here, so I'm not going to get in to responding to them publicly. I am however going to take the moderator badge off for a moment.

Let me be clear from the outset. I absolutely share people's frustration here. A point made previously was that this is all honest opinion, relating to material that is well within the public domain, and that there's no confidentiality being broken. I share that opinion too.

We've always strived on this forum to allow a robust debate on all matters, and whether we agree or disagree with the matter in hand, we've been allowed to express our opinions.

The irony of the whole situation, is that if such a fuss wasn't being made, the thread would have likely died down a day later. We saw this with the Go North East strike thread, for example, where there was a flurry of activity after each press release or news article, then nothing.

Perhaps there's a lesson here too. If you don't like negative comments, then be a better person and treat others with the respect and dignity they deserve.