I have had a lot of reaction to my article about operating on the "political tightrope" (YPN, 9-15 Feb, p15). People who contacted me bemoaned the absence of a forum where there can be robust and honest debate on prevailing concerns in research, policy and practice. As one person put it, what is needed is a "watering hole" where the golden rule is obeyed: that one group of animals does not eat another while they are there.

One such watering hole for discussion about youth issues was in fact established in the 1990s. This was the Research, Policy and Practice Forum on Young People, financed by the then Department for Education and Employment and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, serviced by The National Youth Agency.

Its twice-yearly meetings sought to interrogate general themes such as social inclusion and community cohesion, and more specific issues such as mentoring and self-esteem.

Policymakers, researchers and practitioners articulated their views through keynote presentations and round-table discussions, and they were subjected to questions from the floor. Maybe this didn't achieve much, but the sessions helped dissect concepts that are routinely bandied about without self-reflection, and endeavoured to separate reality from rhetoric.

Such opportunities are rare. Instead, once more, we tend to be subjected to the world view of one side or another, which is more the product of illusion and self-delusion than substantive critical debate. Yet the world in which we all operate - the lives of young people and how best we can assist positive outcomes - is, inevitably, complex. It is riddled with failure as well as success. Statistical representations may tell us the "what" in terms of how many, but as Liza Catan reminds us in her excellent synthesis of the findings of the European Social Research Council youth programme, it is only qualitative research that helps us understand the why and the how.

Policy can move in a constructive direction by ensuring there is space for illuminating that messy world. As another person wrote, "to wrestle with what different voices are telling us". She went on to say that because practitioners feel they have to look flawless on paper, "we lose the stories of the complexities of effective practice, and a sense of being able to reflect openly on things that don't work". I am acutely aware of that fear, because it will not help the development of our work with young people. Politics, they say, is a dirty game, but policy is a messy one.

There have to be spaces for open and non-defensive dialogue on what is working well and what is unfolding badly. Otherwise policy grinds to a sluggish pace and young people are the victims.