I wasn't going to get involved here, but since someone has on my behalf... her goes
I tend to agree with Ake here
In my opinion the folk movement's total inability to self-analyse and accept honest criticism has made the club scene a place where you are no longer guaranteed to hear a folk song (of any kind) if you visit a folk club -there are exceptions, of course, but you need to send out a scouting party to find them
The latest re-definition which has widened the goalposts to include material that was never included in the past has only made the situation worse
I have no doubt that this will be greeted with accusations that I no longer visit enough folk clubs to have the right to an opinion, but what I have described above, far from being denied, has been argued for on threads such as this
Until the club scene goes back to realising how unique and important the songs which have been regarded as "folk" for centuries, the scene will continue to slither down the pan and a beautiful and very entertaining and satisfying art form will have been lost
The strength of my Folk Scene lay in its love of the music and a recognition of what it is, rather than the present faffing around of a scene that hasn't even the courage discuss definition without using terms like "purist" and "folk police"
Its other strength is that it didn't have to rely on paid 'names' - it drew its energy from its grass roots based in the clubs rather than the overfull and largely one-off festivals   
The fact that 'What is folk song' is now forbidden territory on a forum that styles itself as being about the traditional arts says everything about what is wrong with the folk music scene today

Many thanks for awaking me from my lethargy Steve - I hope you don't regret doing so - I certainly don't
Jim