It would seem that Sir Humphrey Appleby is alive and well on the Guardian’s comment threads:
Those who rebut often claim to refute, often because they seek to refute with their rebuttals. They may believe their rebuttals to be successful, to refute that which they deny, and so refer to those rebuttals as refutations. This can give the impression that ‘refute’ means ‘rebut’, or even just ‘deny’. And then the word ‘refute’ gets used that way. But, while the rebutters certainly rebut, they might not refute. To agree that they refute is to draw a conclusion, to take their side on that point. To refer to the rebuttals as rebuttals is to leave such conclusions for others to draw.
— <a href="http://discussion.guardian.co.uk/comment-permalink/24465368">NotProperty 20 June 2013 12:35pm</a>