These terms outline when readers engage in discussion about articles published on The Stray Ferret on the Stray Ferret website and app in the Comments section.

As journalists we believe in freedom of speech and expression. We hope you enjoy participating in discussions about the issues we report on. We encourage lively debate and discussion.

The aim of these Terms and Guidelines is to make the Stray Ferret a place of safe, public debate and discussion, where subscribers feel able to actively engage on a regular basis. To achieve this aim, we expect a standard of behaviour from those engaged in discussion. This document outlines those standards. We will moderate or hide comments that breach these guidelines. We reserve the right to permanently remove a person from commenting if they persistently breach these guidelines:

- Subscribers must use their real names to post comments – we accept abbreviated first names (i.e Beth for Elizabeth) but not surnames. Any false names or anonymous names will be removed.

- Words have impact. Do not use vocabulary that could be interpreted as abusive or offensive to a person or group. We reserve the right to make judgements on whether language, and the context within which it is used, could be interpreted by others.

- Respect others, not everyone will share your views. All comments must be legal as defined under current UK laws. We reserve the right to remove comments that we believe could be breaching those laws. Personal attacks on others will be removed.

- We are journalists and open to reasonable views on our work. However personal attacks on Stray Ferret journalists or repeated attacks on our work will not be tolerated. If you have a complaint about our work contact us on complaints@thestrayferret.co.uk . We are regulated by IMPRESS and adhere to its Code of Conduct which can be found here. Should you be unhappy with our response you can take your complaint to our regulator where it will be externally examined and ruled upon.

- We will moderate comments but would be grateful if subscribers tell us of any that they feel breach these guidelines.

- Be aware that on some stories we will not allow comments. These articles will either be of a sensitive nature or may hold significant legal risks to us as publisher.

By subscribing to the Stray Ferret you will agree to this guidelines.

We reserve the right to hide comments or take them down.

In extreme cases, where there is evidence of continual abuse of these guidelines, we reserve the right to cancel a person’s subscription without a refund.

These guidelines work alongside our Terms & Conditions and Data & Privacy Policies.

If you have any questions please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk