This post is cut and paste from the Facebook page Folk21. This is a well-supported British Folk Club discussion page with an intelligent and interesting bent. It is made all the more interesting by the fact that no anonymous posts are allowed and any evidence of trolling or members posting insulting comments are removed straight away.
The post that I am copying is from the singer-songwriter George Papavgeris, a man I know and respect and who is, in my opinion, one of the finest songwriters operating on the British folk scene. He is also one of the most active, most proselytising members of Folk 21 and dedicated to promoting folk and folk-related music in clubs and small venues in the UK. I find his post very interesting but rather worrying:-

"This will put the contemporary cat among the traditional pigeons. I am posting it not to generate argument, but only to point out that 60-year old definitions notwithstanding, here are the stewards of English folk music and song pinning their colours to the mast, proving the futility of the "horse" argument. You might therefore want to use this next time someone starts about repertoires, permissible content in clubs etc etc.

In the December edition of EDS (the EFDSS magazine) the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library put out a call for "contemporary English folk recordings", to augment and grow the relevant library section. When I contacted them and asked if by this they meant simply "contemporary recordings of traditional music", or whether they also wanted recently written music, this was their response:

"Dear George, thanks for your email. We would include both those types in our coverage. We do collect composed songs that are now part of the folk genre.
Natalie Bevan, Librarian
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
English Folk Dance and Song Society "

And who knows, 50 years from now someone could be swearing blind that "Hail! Hail the First of May" is traditional (and not written by Dave Webber).

Oh - I forgot. they do that already."