Yes, sorry about this folks. Forums are a bit neglected by the admins of this site (of which I'm one), and I fear the populace are all off a-Twittering.
I think the problem is forums need a critical mass, and we have dispersed visitors off around the site by providing other places to make comments. Most of the individual stories allow comments, and we've just added an Ask The Experts feature, where both the designated experts and anyone else can give their views.
http://www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/category/ask-the-experts/
So the focus is rather taken off the discussion forums.
And Twitter is indeed a threat. I've just been trying it myself and it has some advantages, certainly for social and business networking.
But I do think forums still have a role, particularly for practical stuff, as replies are all nicely organised by topic and remain visible forever.
Ian.