ampan said:
"Incidentally, if ALPA are going to do are proper job on the proposed website, why don't they dig up everything, scan it, and put it on the site so that everyone has all the information? "
As one of the webmasters for the new site, I can confirm that this is exactly what is going to be happening. The site will be short on opinion, and long on information, although ultimately the judges of that will be you. Many of the questions on this thread will be answerable by researching the site. I don't yet have a date for when the site will go live, possibly April/May but I can tell you that this thread is having an influence on its ongoing development because it is serving as a useful barometer as to the necessity of having such a site.
The PC judgment has been scanned and will be available, as well as the Mahon and Chippindale Reports.
Other features will include a media kit, an area that will facilitate research, school projects, and a commemoration section.
It will not be a tool for venting one's spleen, nor should there be cause for anyone to vent at it(!), provided we have done our jobs correctly. Once again, that will be for you to decide.
A panel of experts will be available to answer questions by e-mail. All attempts will be made to ensure the impartiality of answers and I will be personally ensuring that this is the case. Whether I succeed in your estimation is another matter.
I have no opinion on some of the opinions I have read here, preferring to value them as a valid contribution to a robust debate. However I have to say that some of the statements of 'fact' I have read on here are nothing of the kind, and only serve to perpetuate myths that result in a debate that waste's everyone's time. Several claims that generate false thoughts in readers' minds that the Privy Council and the Court of Appeal "overturned" the Mahon Report are good examples.
It is hoped that the site will minimise pointless debate, but that may be wishful thinking. At least debate is better than no debate, and I, for one, have enjoyed reading every contribution on this thread. So keep it up, PPRuNers.
Gary Parata