Perhaps 'Sminky' has got us a little bit closer to what this debate is really all about - prevailing orthodoxy. We must bow to the weight of "Public Opinion". And these days Public Opinion tends to favour lowest common denominator pop music - and it is my observation that the musical horizons of Mr/Mrs/Ms Average extend no further than the latest, fashionable 'sounds'- and I can get those anywhere. As for "taking on the rest of the world" all great changes and reforms have come about because people have been prepared to do that. After all MacColl, Lloyd, Lomax etc. were taking on prevailing orthodoxy after the War - and look at the enduring legacy they left behind!

It is my belief (and it is not my attention to force anyone to believe what I believe - even if I could!) that if we remove the limits all we will get is a sort of 'lowest-common-denominator' mush (which will, incidentally, no longer be of any interest to me). I've been interested in Folk Music for over 40 years now and fashionable mush clubs have come and gone but it's the clubs which favour trad. song which have tended to endure.