The Royal Gazette has taken the decision to close comment to political stories for the duration of this election cycle.

This covers the period from today through to July 19, and has been brought about by the often venomous and potentially litigious comment that has appeared on our website — predominantly from those hiding behind a pseudonym.

While we appreciate that the chief offenders are in the minority in the online community, that number has swelled in recent years to become a large minority.

This makes policing the website an overly and unnecessarily arduous task, prompting this decision.

Those who wish to circumvent this temporary policy by posting anything to do with the election or the political parties on unrelated stories will be banned from using our site.

We ask for the public’s patience and understanding during this time.