"we can only attempt to explain it if we take all relevant factors into account, and we are not doing that in this thread,"

Agreed, but I would contend that such discussions as this do not automatically *have* to descend into extreme polarisation of positions and they can perhaps attempt to "take in all relevant factors", or at least as many factors as we may be able to garner through amateur Googling - imperfect as such um 'research' may be.

If we can't have a civilly conducted, open discussion on a 'folk forum' of all places without descending into cat-calling (and I found it personally somewhat intimidating), what hope is there for reconciling the tensions present in our modern multicultural Britain?