"Shimrod - if you've never felt excluded maybe its cos you have nothing to say that they would want to exclude."

-I felt excluded at school and college because I came from a working class family.

- I felt excluded during my brief stint in the Labour Party (c.1980) because I couldn't do the 'prolier-than-thou' thing with a straight face - or master the jargon.

- I have been excluded twice from workplaces (ie. made redundant).

- But I have never felt excluded from folk clubs. Possibly because I sing English trad. songs (presumably well enough to exclude the possibility people throwing stuff at me). In fact I have been invited to become a resident singer in three different clubs over the years. I have met a lot of my very best friends through folk clubs - people who, I know, are always there for me if I ever need them - and that is, surely, the complete opposite of exclusion.