In 2004 at the Hartlepool by-election count, Paul Watson, who stood for Fathers4Justice, covered Liberal Democrat candidate Jody Dunn with purple flour in protest at her work as a family law barrister. Last December during a Baghdad press conference, Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before throwing his shoes at George W Bush, who ducked to avoid them. During the 2001 General Election campaign in Rhyl, farmer Craig Evans threw an egg at the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in protest at "the erosion of rural life", which led to the famous "two jabs" response. In 2006, Ruth Kelly, the then Education Secretary, had an egg smashed over her head by fathers' rights campaigner Michael Downes as she left Salford magistrates court. She was there to give evidence against another campaigner.
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It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
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We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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