Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Mental health isn’t a ‘snowflake’ problem – it affects everyone

‘A few older people are devoid of empathy’
I’m a member of Gen Z and one of many who is in gainful employment while suffering mental health issues.

I wonder where that leaves me in Atticus’ narrow-minded assessment of my generation. Unlike him, I recognise that many people of all generations have mental afflictions worse than mine and are unable to work.

His diatribe is emblematic of the sad fact quite a few older people are devoid of empathy. Ash, Derby

Sitting in silence on a train is not a crime

‘Being on a train without doing anything does not make me weird’
I thought the article about podcaster Curtis Morton ostracising people for just sitting on a train minding their own business (Metro.co.uk, Mar 31) must have been for April Fool’s Day.

Criticising someone who gets on a train and sits quietly without having to use a phone, read a book, have earphones on etc is ludicrous and giving them a name like ‘barebackers’ is horrible.

Just because I sit on a train without doing any of the above does not make me weird and the fact you insinuated such in an article may make people target me and other people like me. Corin, London

Is climate action a luxury we can’t afford in a world on the brink?

‘Flowers later!’
We need more oil and gas from the North Sea as a form of national security, yet John Woodhouse (MetroTalk, Mon) opposes this ‘scaremongering’, saying, ‘We have to cut down on fossil fuels to reach net zero.’

What’s the point of net zero when there’s a looming war in Europe? During World War II, Brits even replaced their flowerbeds with vegetable crops as the country needed more food. Flowers later! Alf, London

Just Stop Oil stop campaigning

‘on behalf of everyone – thank you.’
To the activists of Just Stop Oil, who say they will end their campaigns this month (Metro, Fri), and on behalf of everyone – thank you.

Thank you for doing what the rest of 
us couldn’t.

For standing up for what is right in the face of overwhelming power.

For sacrificing so much to protect the futures of all species on Earth.

For raising awareness of the existential threat of climate collapse, to expose corruption and to inspire others.

And thank you for showing our craven leaders that we are not giving up our planet without a fight. What we’ve seen is only the beginning. Helen Shaw, Liverpool

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Give young people a break

Atticus White (MetroTalk, Mon) says rather than facing a mental health crisis, the young have no emotional ‘resilience’.

Young people get an unnecessarily bad rap. Those I know are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were at their age.

They are running marathons and half-marathons, taking part in Parkruns and directing serious plays in local amateur dramatics groups.

They are studying hard at university and bagging jobs early doors, they are competing in swimming galas, baking cakes, arranging gatherings for friends IRL (in real life), winning prestigious educational awards and much more.

They are absolutely wonderful and wonderfully inspirational.

I am a mother of two (20 and 15) and know a lot of young people!

Yes, as Atticus says, they do appear to be on their phones a lot but it’s all balanced out by the above. We can’t get away from phones as we all manage our lives on them. Take inspiration from the youth of today. They are amazing. Maggie, Harrow

The future of work: more automation, fewer jobs

‘The idea of 100 per cent employment is farcical’
Jimmy (MetroTalk, Fri) says Labour’s benefits cuts do not go far enough – suggesting people should ‘get a job’ to ‘escape poverty’, and not rely on the state.

I’m a trained engineer and work voluntarily as getting a job is much harder in a climate of AI and automation.

The idea of 100 per cent employment is farcical given immigration and population rises. Labour is so lacking in foresight they are creating an underclass.

I urge Jimmy to read Rise Of The Robots by Martin Ford and see that the job market is succumbing to ever more automation. Look at supermarkets losing checkout staff to self-service tills.

More unemployed people needing taxpayer-funded benefits is a recipe for disaster and this government is leading us into it. DL Borrell, Hazelhurst

Some people will always need benefits and that’s okay

‘My son will always need benefits’
I would love Jimmy to meet my son. He is 25 years old but operates at the level of a young child.

His disabilities, present from birth, are so severe I was twice offered a termination during my pregnancy. He has up to 40 seizures a day, is in constant pain, struggles to absorb nutrition and is autistic as well as learning disabled.

He needs someone with him 24/7 and sleeps only four hours or so per night. He would love to work part-time but I don’t see an employer taking him on any time soon.

He will always need benefits. I look after him 24/7 and so I require benefits too – carer’s allowance and universal credit.

The benefits that my son and I get are indeed a benefit. They benefit the state, which otherwise would have to support him in extremely expensive residential care. Annie, Leicestershire

Means testing pensions? That’s not how insurance works

‘In the case of national insurance contributions, the insured event is loss of income upon retirement’
Julian (MetroTalk, Thu) argues in favour of means-testing the state pension on the basis that it is an insurance payout.

Following his logic, if Julian’s house burns down, his insurers should only pay out if he can’t afford to rebuild his house from whatever savings he has at the time of the loss.

When people pay insurance premiums, it is on the understanding that if an event occurs that is covered by the policy, they will receive a payout, regardless of their financial circumstances.

In the case of national insurance contributions, the insured event is loss of income upon retirement. Jon, Newcastle

We need fewer degrees and more skilled tradespeople

‘in order for our society to function it needs skilled workers’
We’re told there’s a shortage of truck drivers, as well as builders.

A main reason for this is that recent governments have wanted to get more school leavers to go into higher education, rather than learning a trade.

But in order for our society to function it needs skilled workers such as builders, plumbers and lorry drivers. A Wills, Ruislip

Metro has helped me laugh and learn since schooldays

‘I first picked it up in year 6. I’m 20 now.’
It’s not particularly related to any topic but I really just want to express my gratitude to everyone behind the scenes at Metro.

I’ve been picking up a paper since I began taking the bus to school in Year 6. I’m 20 now – a uni student – and I still look forward to the thought-provoking features that the paper provides each weekday, the stories centred around intriguing people and the opinions and Good Deeds mentioned in MetroTalk.

It’s educated me about issues I’d never before considered, humoured me and led to some great conversations over the years.
I also love that wherever I am in the country, I’ll see the paper when I take public transport. To this day, it still excites me!
So, thank you again. Zsazsa, Manchester

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Money for roads but not for the most vulnerable

‘The government cares more about roads than people’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves committed £4.8billion towards our road system in the Spring Statement, with £1.6billion already allocated for pothole repairs (Metro, Thu).

Meanwhile another £4.8billion is being cut from social security.

That says it all really, doesn’t it? This government cares more about roads than it does about the people who live around them. The welfare cuts will drive thousands into abject poverty but don’t worry – when they’re sleeping rough, they’ll be sleeping beside newly surfaced roads. Charlie Parrett, Stoke

Reading your ‘Warfare State’ headline and the anger at Labour’s welfare cuts and how 250,000 will be pushed into poverty.

How about they get a job, which is the fastest way to escape poverty and build a better, more satisfying life where work can make you feel valued?

Should the unemployed benefit from benefits?

‘The word “benefits” gives the game away’
I fully support Labour’s cuts and don’t think they go far enough. The system is broken and needs root and branch reform. The word ‘benefits’ gives the game away – you should not ‘benefit’ by not working. Jimmy LC, Ealing

Are NHS waiting lists really shrinking – or are patients being directed to private care?

The government says it will reduce NHS waiting lists. If they do go down, it will probably be because people are being forced to go private. I’m 81 and repeatedly told that I will have to go private for old problems.
Amte, Cheltenham

The UK repaid it’s war debt so why let the US call us ‘freeloaders’?

‘Donald Trump and Vance care nothing about the people of Europe’
Why has our timid prime minister not pointed out to US vice president JD Vance that, far from being ‘freeloaders’, Great Britain repaid all the loan with its crippling interest charges given by
the US during World War II.

It is clear Donald Trump and Vance care nothing about the people of Europe being free from Russian aggression, only how to make vast bucks from minerals.
Owen, London

A fitting headline for Trump’s latest endorsement

‘Surely it should have read…’
Metro’s headline on Wednesday, ‘Trump backs chump’ over the US president refusing to condemn his security adviser Mike Waltz leaking military secrets, seems to contain
a typo. Surely it should have read ‘Chump backs chump’! Colin, Bury

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

I saved for retirement – why should I be penalised?

I had a low-paid job and chose to pay into a company pension that would top
up my state one, while some of my colleagues chose to opt out and spend the money rather than save for old age.

And now you think I should give up my state pension. Why? It was their choice.

Also what do disability benefits have to do with it? I’m pretty sure if we can find billions to help Ukraine, there’s money in the government pot. Jane Smith, Islington

Should the state pension go only to those who need it?

Ryan raises an important debate. The state pension should be means-tested so that, in addition to reducing the welfare bill, the money is targeted at those who really need it.

And to those who claim the state pension is a ‘right’ because they have paid national insurance all their lives – ‘insurance’ is the operative word here.

People could reflect on the fact that we pay house and contents insurance, motor insurance and holiday insurance most, if not all, of our working lives – but don’t expect anything back if we don’t need to claim.

The welfare state is there to protect those in our society who really need help through no fault of their own so that they can live fulfilling worry-free lives.
Julian, London

Yes, I deserve my pension and I bet you’ll claim yours too

How dare Ryan suggest cutting the state pension? Whether we need it or not is of no concern to him.

When we were younger, we saved when and where we could, supposedly for a rainy day. Do our youngsters do this today? I think not.

I would suspect a huge chunk of money is thrown at people suffering from ‘mental health issues’, these apparently over-diagnosed by doctors.

Some of these people are teenagers capable of a day’s work. We pensioners who might have a bit put by are entitled to our pension, never mind whether we need it or not.

Yes, I certainly deserve my pension ahead of benefit claimants. It’s my guess many are disabled through lack of exercise. We have ‘earned’ our pensions so, Ryan Cooper, however old you are, be sensible about this.

I can bet you’ll be claiming yours when you are entitled to it. If you are of the age to receive it, have you declined it? Mary T, Halifax

Australia mean tests pensions – but it’s not that simple

Australia does have a means-tested state pension (actually a benefit paid to the less well off).

However this runs in tandem with a compulsory superannuation scheme, to which the employer is now obliged to contribute 12 per cent of salary. I imagine this, and the accompanying tax breaks on both the employer and employee contribution, mitigate the resentment from those feeling they are being punished for saving for their old age.
Jonathan Bagley, Todmorden

Is society teaching kids to be bullies?

One in ten parents living in poverty say their children have been bullied as a result, according to a poll (Metro, Mon).

As much as financial struggles may affect children’s behaviour, I don’t think it’s the major factor.

We are living in a culture of bullying from top down. Bullying rulers, bullying managers, reality programmes endorsing bullying and giving guidelines on who and how to bully. Some examples include Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, The Apprentice and other competitive reality TV shows.

TV dramas such as 13 Reasons Why and Adolescence give you an idea of what
I mean. It’s not surprising it’s trickling down to the children.
VSL, Secondary School Teacher,
Inner London

The White House leak shows what America really thinks

The scandal of White House security advisor Mike Waltz leaking war plans to a journalist on a messaging service and which showed US leaders describing Europeans as ‘pathetic’ (Metro, Wed), gives a glimpse into the American psyche.

They are scared of liberalism as it destroys their power. Europe needs to hold to its values. Neil Dance, Birmingham

Solitary confinement? Tommy Robinson should count himself lucky

Tommy Robinson is challenging being held in prison isolation (Metro, Fri). He should think himself fortunate – the luxury of his own cell, separated from all the noise, arguments, stains and odours of shared cellular accommodation.

He should be grateful prison authorities are trying to keep him safe – they say a ‘lifer’ had threatened to kill him.
I’d prefer to serve a sentence in solitary, so long as I could obtain books, magazines and a radio and if kind-hearted prison officers were to bring in copies of Metro.

And as someone who hasn’t watched TV for 40 years, I’d regard it as some form of torture if I had to share a cell with a telly blaring away all day.
Not too bad perhaps if it were Talking Pictures TV, BBC and Sky Arts but I suspect they would not be available. Michael Zehse, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Gen Z’s struggles are no joke

‘We said we wouldn’t go back to how things were and we haven’t – it’s got worse.’
I’m Gen X but can totally understand the disillusion of Gen Z – struggling to get on the property ladder, landlords ripping you off, a world full of plenty and yet all seemingly owned by a tiny few…

All this coming after living through a global lockdown, where we all saw what was really important in life and who were really essential.

We said we wouldn’t go back to how things were and we haven’t – it’s got worse. Those essential workers are treated worse than before, the wealth gap gets bigger. It’s like the end of Monopoly – all the money going in one direction to one person, the rest of us struggling to get round to reach the next payment. It’s at this point no one wants to play anymore. This is the plight of Gen Z. Stuart, Dagenham

‘Mental health’ or misdiagnosed physical condition?

‘I figured out that the modern environment caused my misery’
Over-diagnosis of mental illness – as described by health secretary Wes Streeting (MetroTalk, Mon) – can be catastrophic.

I suffered from crushing fatigue for many years, which was never recognised as a physical condition –instead, I was diagnosed with mental health issues, which exacerbated the situation catastrophically.

I figured out that the modern environment caused my misery – windowless or dim rooms plus glaring lamps and screens.

I am quite fit now and feel as if I have come back from the dead.

I reckon that ‘mental health’ is abused on a vast scale to cover up physical illness and inhumane living and working conditions. Christina Egan, Tottenham

Gen Z can’t DIY

‘he should be embarrassed and so should his parents’
I’m laughing so much over 22-year-old part-time law student Sam Daley, who paid £180 to have his carbon monoxide alarm batteries changed because he and his generation have
no DIY skills (Metro, Mon). You couldn’t make it up – he should be embarrassed and so should his parents for not supplying him with the basic knowledge of DIY, or do they themselves not know how to do these things? Changing a battery, putting up a shelf – which Sam says he’s also unable to do – are the simplest of things. Debs, London

Is freedom of speech really under threat?

‘your opinion is in a national newspaper’
Alan (MetroTalk, Tue) laments about how the country is ‘broken’ and him not having ‘freedom of speech’.

The very fact you had your opinion in a national newspaper rubbishes any argument you have about losing your ‘freedom of speech’.

People like Alan love to victimise themselves, yet their arguments rarely, if ever, bring anything thoughtful or original to the table.

Please, give it a rest with the whole ‘freedom of speech’ nonsense – visit a country where freedom of speech really is limited and you’ll surely get some perspective. One of the most damaging problems our society faces is not being able to properly balance emotion with logic.

It ultimately creates more problems instead of solutions and leads to weaponised ignorance that has real-world consequences for others. Rob, South Shields

Should pet owners pay the price for the destruction their animals cause?

‘£200 per pet, that’ll clear our fiscal deficit’
Many will agree with Richard (MetroTalk, Tue), who says there should be a dog licence of £50.

Perhaps in view of the number of irresponsible owners it should be £200. I would add that cat owners should also pay £200 per cat in view of the carnage their pets cause – more than 50million birds and 200million animals are killed by cats every year.

There are 13.5million dogs and 12.5million cats in the UK so that would clear our fiscal deficit. Clark Cross, Linlithgow

Pot holes are just a symptom – what about the roads?

‘Electric vehicles will only make the situation worse’
It is commendable for the government to provide £1.6billion for pothole repairs (Metro, Mon) but shouldn’t people be asking for resurfacing of our roads? The potholes are happening on roads with thin surfaces, particularly roads used by
a variety of heavy vehicles. The increase in electric vehicles, which
are very heavy, will only make the situation worse if resurfacing is not going to be considered. Grahame King, Leicester.

The rise of fancy job titles

Further to Delboy’s letter about fanciful job titles (MetroTalk, Mon),
I have heard that in the US, undertakers are sometimes referred
to as ‘grief therapists’.

In the 60s, my late dad jokingly used to call bin men not ‘environmental executives’ but ‘dusthole mechanics’. Nick Spokes, Ilford

Why do cashiers always ask about loyalty cards?

‘Staff have to ask’
In response to Glen Purcell (MetroTalk, Mon) bemoaning ‘childlike’ shoppers needing to be asked whether they have loyalty cards.

Staff have to ask because the till will not let them continue with the transaction until they have said ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the customer having one. Kim Redding, Hornchurch

The hidden hazard of escalators that no one talks about

‘TfL seemingly refuses to announce’
On ‘nannyish’ public transport announcements (MetroTalk, Mon), there is one specific incident that TfL seemingly refuses to announce around the station.

I work in the station and it is
very common for ladies wearing exaggerated, long gowns to be trapped on the escalators.

The incidents sometimes do involve other customers when these ladies
fall or lose their balance on the escalators. They should raise it up before stepping on escalators. C Ukeje, Woolwich

Comedy and philosophy

‘I laughed more than I thought.’
I went to a class mixing comedy
and philosophy. I laughed more than
I thought. Jeff, Nuneaton

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Would universal basic income end benefit debates?

‘experts have been recommending it for years’
I can’t help feeling there wouldn’t be all these rows about cutting benefits and people’s ability to work if we established a universal basic income, which has been recommended by experts for years. Mo, Bradford

Gen-Z is missing out by quitting work

‘I met my wife and friends at work’
I don’t understand the young generation shunning jobs – a survey by PwC having revealed a quarter of Gen Zs have considered quitting work (MetroTalk, Wed). About 80 per cent of my phone contacts are friends I made in the workplace 35 to 45 years ago. I met my wife there. They were among the happiest days of my life. I have fond memories of us all going to the pub on Friday nights. Steve Mitchell, London

Public transport announcements are making less aware

‘people have lost the ability to think for themselves’
Much has been said on MetroTalk
about ‘nannyish’ public transport announcements. Some say that they are necessary but they are, in fact, ridiculous.

For example, whoever died of dehydration on the Tube – yet we are constantly urged to carry water in hot weather?

The problem is that, because of these ‘childlike’ announcements, people have lost the ability to think for themselves.

There used to be ads about pickpockets and as commuters walked by, they would check their wallet – while being watched by pickpockets who would then know which pocket to pick.

It’s the same with supermarket loyalty cards – the person serving nearly always has to ask the customer if they have a loyalty card, at which they say, ‘Oh, yeah.’ Why
do they need the prompt?
Glen Purcell, Twickenham

Do job titles really need a rebrand?

‘you still need to explain what the job entails’
Regarding club bouncer Delia
El-Hosayny preferring to call her job ‘ejection technician’ (Metro, Thu). Why give your job a fanciful name and then need to explain what the job entails? Doctors, lawyers and bin men don’t call themselves ‘WFH health specialists’, ‘sharks’ or ‘environmental executives’, do they? Delboy, Yorkshire

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Austerity by another name

‘Have we got a Labour government or just Tory-lite’
However work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall tries to dress it up, reducing spending on benefits for the sick and disabled means a return to Tory austerity that will hit already struggling families hard.

Patriotic millionaires have been asking to pay higher taxes for some time, so why doesn’t the government indulge them and stop going after budgets such as foreign aid and those helping the sick/disabled?

The big banks, hedge funds and power companies could all pay higher taxes and probably wouldn’t even notice.

Have we got a Labour government or are they just Tory-lite? Chris, Stockport

Disability benefits are a lifeline, not a handout

‘Living his life is a full-time job – and now the government is handing him a massive pay cut.’
I have a nephew who receives about £400 a month in personal independence payments (PIP) – which fewer people will receive under Kendall’s plans.

Judging by what the government has said, he will have his PIP withdrawn.

I can assure you that he has earned every penny of that money and then some. I’ve seen how much effort it takes him to get out of bed in the morning, how hard it is for him to help out around his family’s house (he still does it, because he’s generous and determined, but it’s painstaking) and how much work he puts in towards being healthy again.

Anyone with a heart or a brain can see that, despite his drive to contribute to the world, my nephew would not be able to hold down a job.

But he does a huge amount of extra work every single day in comparison to his able-bodied peers – a lot more than £400 a month’s worth.

Living his life, and trying to recover from his illness, is a 24/7 full-time job, and he should be paid for it. His workload should’ve earned him a lot more than he gets currently.

As it stands, this government is about to hand him a massive pay cut that will make it much harder for him to get better, and will put a massive strain on his family’s struggling finances.

The Labour Party’s name betrays its origins in the trade union movement, fighting for fair wages and conditions for workers. It’s high time they remembered their roots. Sharon, Manchester

Cutting red tape isn’t the answer

‘we need to change our language’
I sympathise with Sir Keir Starmer’s desire to replace backroom paperwork with frontline workers, but I resent him complaining about ‘inefficient bureaucracy’ and ‘flabby’
public services.

It just smacks of that outdated, misguided neoliberal idea that the
state is inherently wasteful and
that everything is done better in the private sector.

The insanity of the water industry and the failure of outsourcing (among other things) demonstrate that
this is nonsense but in order to fully free ourselves from this dogma, we need to change our use of language.

‘Bureaucracy’, ‘regulation’, ‘tax’ – these should not be dirty words. All of these things are necessary and beneficial in varying quantities. If Labour keeps dancing to the Tory tune of ‘cutting red tape’ and shrinking the state, they will allow that irrational right-wing ideology to capture our political discourse.

Labour will be reduced to stealing Conservative clothes and we will be stuck with a political class under the daft and dangerous illusion that spending cuts are the only way to fix the country.

That said, given the government’s recent announcements, perhaps we are already past that point. JWA Caley, St Pancras

Trump’s Ukraine peace deal makes no sense

‘Donald Trump’s involvement in the Ukraine peace deal…’
Donald Trump’s involvement in the Ukraine peace deal can be compared with a situation where a woman is walking alone on the street and a mugger attacks her. As she tries to fight him off, a cop approaches. She expects the cop to arrest or chase off the mugger, but instead the cop takes her handbag and walks away. Andrew, Hornchurch

Fixing pot holes: look to Sweden

‘Perhaps a couple of their engineers could be invited over.’
Further to the news that it would cost £17billion to fix UK potholes (Metro, Tue).

A 200-mile walking/cycling visit to the Swedish municipality of Simrishamn found only two 15cm potholes.

One could see that, where cracks had appeared, a strip of tar 500mm wide was used to cover it and fine gravel laid over it. If the crack reappeared the process was simply repeated – it was demonstrably effective and cost saving. A stitch in time perhaps. Perhaps a couple of their engineers could be invited over. Or maybe we set up a quango’s holiday there – it is a beautiful place. Robby, Kent

Metro is too ‘woke’ for me

‘woke and snowflakery’
‘You are more likely to be published if you provide your name and location with your comment’ glibly states the silly, ‘girlie comic’ that is Metro. Perhaps you should also add ‘provided it is woke and snowflakery’? Goodbye. Anon, via text

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Mental health: a crisis or a Gen-Z excuse?

‘Reeves has scuppered any hope that there will be jobs for the workshy’
I’m sure there’ll be predictable outrage at health secretary Wes Streeting’s comment that doctors are ‘over-diagnosing’ mental issues (Metro, Mon). He’s absolutely right, though. This comes as a survey by PwC reveals a quarter of Gen Zs have considered quitting work.

They aim to achieve this by playing the mental issues card. Why should the hard-working taxpayer be burdened with the cost of keeping those who, frankly, don’t want to work.

I think of the generation who came back from World War II, many traumatised in a way that we can only imagine but who slotted back into the jobs that they had before.

They got on with it, although some were undoubtedly affected. I know because in my early years of employment I worked with some of them. The only problem is that, at a time when we seek to either get people into work or off their benefits, the government imposes a tax on jobs by increasing employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

This leads into a wider discussion about taxation but, simply put, if we all want improved public services we all pay for it by increasing the basic rate of tax.

By choosing to tax employment, chancellor Rachel Reeves has scuppered any hope that there will be jobs for the workshy. Hardly joined up thinking. John Daniels, Redhill

Afraid of dogs? It’s time to get over it

‘Not everything is about you and your fears’
Charles (MetroTalk, Fri) says dog owners should apologise rather than thank him when he gives way to them on pavements and alleyways because they have chosen ‘insensitive and unpredictable’ pets. He needs to grow up and realise everything is not about him and his fears – and maybe go to therapy to get over his fear of dogs.

There is a scene in the 2002 sci-fi film Equilibrium – set in a world where feelings are outlawed – where a man is sought out for carrying a puppy in his car. Left to snowflakes like Charles, the demonising of dogs as in that scene will become real. DL Borrell, Hazelhurst

Why transport announcements matter

‘Have they ever seen an accident on a moving escalator?’
Jules Stewart’s disparaging remarks about the ‘bombardment’ 
of ‘nannyish’ announcements on our transport systems (MetroTalk, Thu) needs a response.

Have they ever seen an accident on a moving escalator when a passenger, not holding the handrail, has fallen and caused others below also to fall?

I have, and I pressed the emergency stop button. Have they ever seen a passenger’s fedora hat alight from his head as he was approaching a platform due to the wind turbulence from a leaving train?

I have. The hat landed on the track, the man jumped down to retrieve it, oblivious to the live rail when I questioned him as he climbed back up.

Have they never seen disabled passengers carrying heavy shopping not reaching the bus door before the unknowing driver starts to move off?

I have, and I re-pressed the bell to alert the driver to stop again.

Do they not know that blind people travel on the Victoria Line?

I do, and knowing which side the doors will open at the next stop may actually be helpful to them.
Stanley Haines, London

Complaining about tube announcements? Must be nice

‘people who have so little to worry about’
Reading Monday’s MetroTalk, I was really happy for those people who have so little to worry about that they consider excessive announcements on the Tube and public transport as a serious issue. Martin, London

The real reason for ‘Mind The Gap’.

‘everyone knows’
Regarding the Mind The Gap announcements on the London Underground – everyone knows that crocodiles live in the gap between the train and the platform. Ray Kingdom, Burgess Hill

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Workplace flexibility: The missing piece?

‘Enough is enough.’
Labour wants to help people with mental issues get back to work. They are missing a vital piece of the puzzle – the management systems and work environments that push for conformity at any price.

Already we have companies reversing flexibility. Not everyone works well in noisy offices, kowtows to toxic managers or responds to the widespread pressure to be overly sociable. Once we change the entrenched rigidity of our work culture, you will see how many talented and hard-grafting people get back to work.

Some of us have adjusted, feigned and compromised for decades. Enough is enough. Rather than putting companies under the microscope, it seems far easier to offer prescribed ‘support’ at an individual level and then blame the individual if it fails.
Ana Beard, High Barnet

Abolishing NHS England: Democracy or power grab?

‘We are being ruled by a government who just 20 per cent of the electorate voted for’
The abolition of NHS England will, the government says, supposedly make the NHS more ‘democratic’ (Metro, Fri). That would be true if we lived in a functioning democracy. As it stands we are being ruled over by a government with an enormous majority despite being voted for by just 20 per cent of the electorate.

Liz Truss wanted to cut back the civil service and make the public sector directly controlled by the government – her government, who no one voted for either.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying a similar thing in the US. It doesn’t work. All you end up with is power concentrated in a few people who no one wanted anyway.

And those people are supposedly ‘outside the establishment’ which means that they don’t have a clue what they’re doing. Rob Slater, Norfolk

Who pays the price for Trump’s economic gamble?

‘Trump is not so much Robin Hood as Robin Hoodlum.’
Trump seems to assume that tariff revenues and Musk’s budget cuts will fund universal, substantial tax breaks.

However, the looming recession could derail these plans, leaving him without the resources to deliver. His strategy rests on shaky economic ground, risking fiscal instability. Even if Trump’s plan works, which is doubtful, tariffs are paid by USconsumers, while Musk’s cuts slash services they rely on.

The irony? Working-class Trump voters would likely face having to fund compensatory tax breaks for the rich while paying more from their weekly budget – which means Trump is not so much Robin Hood as Robin Hoodlum. Henry Page, Greenwich.

Trump’s hypocrisy: the boycott double standard

‘as soon as people choose to boycott Tesla, he cries boycotts are ‘illegal’.’
Donald Trump has spent a lot of time trying to get things banned and people removed from jobs in his attempts to ‘clean up the government’ by removing anything he and his ilk consider ‘woke’ – having diverse employees, empathetic goals, or even just the capability for critical thinking.

Yet as soon as people choose to boycott Tesla in a stand against its owner, Elon Musk, he cries boycotts are ‘illegal’.

For a man who is desperate to paint himself as a brilliant mind and a successful man, Trump certainly loves to act like a petulant child when the world doesn’t kowtow to his latest ploy. Matthew, Birmingham

Keep music out of the World Cup

‘Music acts get enough exposure at awards’
I see they are planning a half-time concert curated by Chris Martin and Coldplay for next year’s World Cup final in the US (Metro, Fri).

I hope this idea goes away. The Superbowl equivalent is an inflated circus that threatens to overshadow the sport.

Music acts get enough exposure at awards ceremonies. Len, Harrow

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Why TfL won’t turn down the volume – blame the lawyers

‘this litigious society’
I work for Transport for London (TfL) at a busy central London station. I agree that silence is bliss but the problem is, if we don’t play those messages, people in this litigious society will scream blue murder the minute something goes wrong.

‘We weren’t informed/advised/warned,’ they’d say, and TfL would be open to legal action. I realise that people, including myself, want peace and quiet but there are just as many people waiting for any chance to complain. Phil, Hertfordshire

Keeping stupidity at bay – one announcement at a time

‘stupid people out there don’t take in simple instructions’
There are a lot of stupid people out there who don’t take in simple instructions, such as to stay behind the yellow line on the Tube platform. The railway companies are scared of being sued by ignorant people. Geoff Treby, via email

A ‘fun’ journey with ‘amazing’ people?

‘I don’t want a ‘fun’ journey – I want a silent one.’
I’ve not heard the daft announcement about hats and windy weather mentioned by Jules but I and other travellers were once addressed thus, ‘Hallo to all you amazing people at King’s Cross…’ Why ‘amazing’?

The announcer then warned us about ‘minding the gap’ by explaining exactly what the ‘gap’ was between carriage and platform, concluding with, ‘Have a fun and safe journey.’ I don’t want a ‘fun’ journey – I want a silent one.
Julian, South London

Dog owners, spare a thought for those of us struggling to walk

‘Dogs get prioritised over humans over here!’
I’m in sympathy with Charles EL Gilman (MetroTalk, Fri), who describes dogs as ‘insensitive’ and ‘unpredictable’ weapons.

I am still recovering from a two-year-old leg fracture and one-year-old back injury.

Dogs have a habit of yapping up at me when I’m walking in their direction.

On really bad days there are dogs and their owners on both sides of the pavement and there’s no space for me with my leg and back problems, so I usually have to veer off into the road to avoid all these pets. Then I have to ensure I’m mindful of oncoming cars!

Dogs get prioritised over humans over here! William Barklam, Kent

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Trump’s war on words would make Orwell proud

‘the restriction and depletion of language can limit what we are able to think.’
It was recently revealed that the Trump administration has listed dozens of words and phrases that should be purged and avoided in official government documents.

These include ‘bias’, ‘climate crisis’, ‘diversity’, ‘inequality’, ‘LGBT’, ‘prejudice’ and ‘pronoun’.

If the book Nineteen Eighty-Four taught us anything, it’s that language has the power to shape the way we think – and that the restriction and depletion of language can limit what we are able to think.

It states: ‘The whole aim of Newspeak [the new language in the novel] is to narrow the range of thought. In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.’

Hence aspiring totalitarians try to change the way language is used in order to serve their own ends. This is not even to mention the banning of books from schools and libraries.

If we value freedom, we must remain vigilant and fight these policies at every opportunity. Sharon, Manchester

Ditching the brands that don’t align with my values

‘Elon Musk is doing a spectacular job of making his brand the most undesirable one on the planet.’
I’ve shunned Starbucks and other US chains in favour of a local independent and replaced my Americano with a Ukrainiano.

I’ve also deleted my account with the toxic snakepit called X and as to Tesla… well, Elon Musk is doing a spectacular job of making his brand the most undesirable one on the planet. Guy W, Richmond

Labour’s shift right: did we really vote for this?

‘They are all policies advocated by the Tories that have been adopted by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government’
Question: what connects an increase in spending on defence, a reduction in foreign aid, benefits for the disabled and the size of the civil service, more private companies brought into the NHS and protection for those on high incomes and the wealthy

Answer: they are all policies advocated by the Tories that have been adopted by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government.

Is this what people voted for when Labour promised change? Chris, Stockport

Man United’s stadium dream: should they build a better team first?

‘get back to being one of the world’s greatest teams first?’
So, Manchester United want to build the world’s greatest football stadium (Metro, Wed). How about trying to get back to being one of the world’s greatest teams first, of which they are currently a million miles from being?

Hearing former Man Utd player Gary Neville’s dreamy fantasy about the future on the voicevoer of the stadiumvideo made me think his ex-teammate Roy Keane needs to get hold of him in the club canteen (no discounts, mind) and tell him in his no-nonsense way of about the current plight of the club.

Anyway, if they do go ahead with the stadium, I have a suggestion for its name – Old Knackered. Dec, Essex

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

This Not Right

On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.

Throughout the year we will be bringing you stories that shine a light on the sheer scale of the epidemic.

With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to engage and empower our readers on the issue of violence against women.

You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.

Read more:

What to do if your loved one is at risk from domestic abuse

Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro’s year-long violence against women campaign

Yvette Cooper’s message to abusers and rapists: The streets don’t belong to you

Remembering the women killed by men in 2024

Stories about violence against women don’t make an impact – this is why

Men – we need your help to end violence against women

A trade war with Trump? Bring it on

‘slap tariffs of 50 per cent on all Tesla cars’
Here’s an easy answer for our UK government if Donald Trump threatens us with trade tariffs – slap tariffs of 50 per cent on all Tesla cars and their component parts. David Suszek, Dunoon

Who’s really running out of weapons?

‘Russia might be running out of money and weapons’
Western military analysts are 
‘guessing’ that Vladimir Putin’s Russia might be running out of money and weapons and therefore wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly.

We have to ‘guess’ everything about them whereas, over here, you can read reports of Britain’s decaying warships, shortage of troops and weapons and Ukraine’s shortage of weapons in the newspapers. Cyril, London

Keep the BBC ad-free

‘I hate my programme being interrupted’
Alan (MetroTalk, Tue) is incorrect in saying the BBC should take adverts ‘as the other channels do’. Netflix doesn’t have adverts, if you pay a subscription – which coincidentally is about the same as the BBC licence fee.

I hate my programme being interrupted every 15 minutes and I can only make so many cups of tea or go to the toilet.

Bravo to the BBC for still producing the best TV in the country. It’s the envy of the world, which us why it earns billions of pounds selling its programmes, acting as an advert for everything that’s good about the UK. Please keep the BBC advert-free! Peter, Essex

It wasn’t a collision, it was a allision

‘An important distinction’
Regarding the catastrophe at sea that left an oil tanker and a cargo ship ablaze off the coast of East Yorkshire (Metro, Tue). The correct definition is important. It was not a ‘collision’ – this is when moving objects strike each other. What happened yesterday was an ‘allision’ – the Stena Immaculate was reported to be stationary when struck by the Solong – an important distinction. Mauro Mazzoni, London

Blocking nature

‘Why they can’t build somewhere else and save nature – and my sanity?’
We are encouraged to grow fruit and vegetables and so that’s what I did – all that lovely sunshine and they kept growing every year… until they built flats blocking the sun. So I tried growing plants in the back garden instead and it worked but Edinburgh council is allowing more flats to be built – cutting off the sunshine again.

There won’t be any more frogs or hedgehogs to see soon. Why they can’t build somewhere else and save nature – and my sanity? Just Thomson, Edinburgh

Just bin it!

‘carry it to the nearest bin’
It’s amazing how easy it is to carry our coffee when we buy it, yet impossible for many to carry it to the nearest bin when they are done. Katie, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Thames water bill shock

‘I am staggered they managed to foist a 39 per cent increase on me’
I have just had the pleasure of receiving my Thames Water bill details for 2025-26 and am staggered it has managed to foist a 39 per cent increase on me.

And just how was this allowed by the apparently toothless regulator Ofwat?

I can’t change my water provider and if I complain to Thames I am likely to get a sob story. Contact my MP and I’ll get passed to the regulator, which has already proved itself ineffective. I will be going round in circles. John, London

Abolishing the license fee

‘BBC should take in advertising like other channels do’
BBC chairman Samir Shah suggests richer households should pay more for their licence fee. The fee should be done away with completely and the BBC take in advertising as the other channels do. Alan, Sunderland

Is time to rethink US defence dependence?

‘our government and those of European allies must think carefully‘
In the light of recent US moves to blackmail Ukraine into surrendering to Russia, our government and those of European allies must think carefully about defence procurement.

If a capricious US president can use defence supplies and intelligence to pressure an ally into submission this time, the same can happen to us – which would be very dangerous if the US sided with Russia.

Our government must think twice before committing to further defence procurement from the US, improve our own defence industry and become more self-sufficient. Roger Morris, Mitcham

Budget cuts for the most vulnerable

‘This isn’t securing our borders, this is murder.’
The government leads us to believe that the only way the UK can secure its borders from the so-called Russian threat is to remove billions of pounds from the budget for Personal Independent Payments (PIP) and give it to Ukraine for endless war.

Austerity cuts were justified by the Tories because ‘we all had to make sacrifices’. The fact that most of the sacrifices were made by the poor, sick and disabled is by the by.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall claims the objective is to get people into work but some of the ‘savings’ will be made by making it harder to qualify for PIP – a benefit NOT linked to work – which is meant to help people with the additional costs of their disability.

This isn’t securing our borders, this is murder. Julie Partridge, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

If Russia can take Ukraine’s land…

‘perhaps we should ask for our former colony – America – back, too.’
Why are the UK public so obsessed with the USA and Trump bashing? Well the simple answer is that Trump looks like he wants to force Ukraine to give away part of its country to Russia in return for the US getting a huge slice of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.

If that logic prevails perhaps we should ask for our former colony – America – back, too. Samuel, Tooting

Was Zelensky’s Oval Office humiliation planned?

‘Watching that meeting was like watching the Ali G show’
It looks as though predictions are coming true. Zelensky will soon be replaced, resign or disappear.

A transaction was surely made between Putin, Trump and Zelensky’s replacement before that humiliating meeting in the Oval Office. The deal would have been to have Zelensky publicly humiliated and replaced, then for Trump to agree to deal with the replacement and sign a ceasefire agreement in which the US gets its financial gains and Russia takes control of parts of Ukraine. There will be no war and no aid from the US.

Watching that meeting was like watching the Ali G show – except that with Ali G you could laugh and no lives would have been lost, and it was less toe-curling. Mity, North London

Trump’s selective outrage on hostages

‘He remains unwilling to confront Vladimir Putin on this issue‘
President Trump has been very vocal about the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, condemning their captivity and threatening severe repercussions if they are not released. Yet his silence on Russia’s abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children raises glaring contradictions.

As president, Trump has the power to pressure Russia for their return, just as he does with the Israeli hostages, yet he remains unwilling to confront Vladimir Putin on this issue. If the forced displacement of hostages in Gaza is unacceptable, why is the mass abduction of Ukrainian children any different?

His selective outrage reveals not just political bias but a troubling deference to Putin. He is truly the monster’s puppet. Henry Page, Greenwich

China calling the US a bully? That’s rich

‘I can hear the clangs of pots and kettles’
We all know Trump is a vulgarian but that doesn’t make him the devil. To hold China, that paragon of freedom, as a moral high horse, and for China to talk about ‘intimidation’ and ‘bullying’ by the US, is quite laughable. I can hear the clang of pots and kettles. John, Orpington

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Starmer’s risky play for global influence

‘What about the cost to this country in money and possibly lives of our forces?’
Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity rating may have increased with his attempts to be a world leader regarding the Ukraine/Russia war, according to a YouGov poll, but he needs to be careful when committing to ‘boots on the ground’ and talking about 
‘a coalition of the willing’ to oversee a peacekeeping force. The only other country in Europe willing to join his ‘coalition’ so far is France. Is the PM willing to commit our forces along with France as to be the only peacekeepers?

What about the cost to this country in money and possibly lives of our forces?

Starmer may want to be on the world stage and appear as a world leader.

Perhaps he thinks this war may boost his popularity, as the Falklands did with Margaret Thatcher?

‘It could end up like it did for Tony Blair and Iraq’
That is a dangerous gamble with our country and our Armed Forces. It could end up as it did for Tony Blair and Iraq. Beware the world stage, prime minister!
 Ian Bentley, Pudsey

Trump’s chaotic diplomacy – could it be a path to peace?

‘Shaming people usually gets the desired effect’
HG of Maidstone (MetroTalk, Wed) hit the nail on the head in saying that, ‘unedifying’ as it may have been, the Oval Office argument may end up being the ‘catalyst for peace’.

Trump’s approach to politics may be straight out of ‘The Hamas Guide To Tact And Diplomacy’ but you often find that goading or shaming people usually gets the desired effect better than asking or telling then to do it. Alex, Coventry

Zelensky vs Trump: one puts country first, the other himself

‘Volodymyr Zelensky sacrificed his ego for the sake of his country’
When it came to the negotiations around a peace deal between Ukraine and the US following their Oval Office argument, Volodymyr Zelensky sacrificed his ego for the sake of his country, while Trump sacrificed his country for the sake of his ego. Charlotte Ellis, West London

Why is the UK so obsessed with Trump?

‘The point is, please leave Trump alone.’
As Jude (MetroTalk, Thu) points out, what’s the UK people’s (and Metro readers’) obsession with Trump?

Why don’t you people look at cleaning your backyard rather than commenting on your neighbour’s home?When you point one finger at someone, please remember that three fingers are pointing at you.

Don’t you have issues to address here? How about the high taxes? How about the hard-working taxpayers’ valuable contributions going down the drain of supporting the benefit fraud leaches?

How about the crime in the streets (even this week, a boy was gunned down)? How about the industries being shut down?

How about the money wasted in supporting parties who don’t deserve any help from us? How about fixing the totally broken NHS? I can go on and on.

The point is, please leave Trump alone.

He’s a businessman and trying to take care of his country’s business. People here should mind their own business! Inbaraj, Harrow

Trump’s global stunts affect us all

‘The US is still one of the biggest powers in the world’
Jude asks why we are ‘obsessed’ with bashing Trump. If they paid attention, they’d know Trumps antics have an effect on all of us.

The US is still one of the biggest powers in the world and we are watching in real time as the so-called ‘leader of the free world’ sets about trying to bully and belittle America’s allies as he attempts to cozy up to tyrants such as Putin, who he hopes to emulate.

We are watching as Trump and his cronies attempt to rewrite history on Putin’s behalf to make it seem Ukraine were the aggressors after Russia invaded their country.

They are downplaying or dismissing the other countries who have helped prop up the US during its own conflicts.

Maybe we wouldn’t be so ‘obsessed’ with bashing Trump if he and his party didn’t keep making an embarrassment of themselves, acting like petulant children whenever other countries leaders dare to correct them, or when the people who elected them dare to ask questions as they carelessly gut the American system to make lives worse for the average citizen and better for themselves.
Matthew, Birmingham

The hidden economic play behind Trump’s Ukraine strategy

‘Trump urgently needs a rare earth deal with Ukraine’
President Trump urgently needs a rare earth deal with Ukraine to support the US defence industries.

For instance, every F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft that Lockheed Martin is selling to Nato countries – including the UK, Italy, Norway and Finland – needs 416kg of rare earth, and more for drones and cruise missiles produced in the US. David Oliver, Herts

World leaders are teaching violence, not peace

‘Children Learn What They Live’
Now we can see why there’s so much violence among our children. It is as Les Crane sang in 1971, ‘Children Learn What They Live’ – and they learn it from the leaders of their countries and even more so from those in the entertainment industry.

Now here is this moron Trump, speaking peace with Russia but spewing venom now at the Palestinian people, whose homes have been demolished and who have been slaughtered in their thousands.

And as if that wasn’t enough, he is prepared to supply that other moron, that barbarian of an Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu, with all the weapons he needs to continue with the slaughter.

These maniacs have found themselves as leaders of such powerful countries and they are dangerous – it’s as if they can’t be satisfied, as if they will live forever.

It’s time they stop this madness and realise they didn’t get this high office to go throwing their weight around and making people’s lives a misery.

It’s time they learnt to live and let live and stop being greedy. Jon, South-West London

A league table of who pays the most tax is what we need

‘I’d like to see a list of those who contributed the greatest amount of tax’
Chris Parrett (MetroTalk, Thu) is quite right – we should be glad to
pay our taxes to fund the services that we need. Indeed, it should be a matter of pride!

Each year, The Sunday Times publishes a Rich List of the wealthiest people in the UK but what I’d like to see is a list of those who contributed the greatest amount of tax to our treasury’s coffers.

Likewise, each year companies submit accounts publishing their profits and losses but I think what would be in the greatest public interest would be to see which companies had paid the highest levels of corporation tax.
That way consumers could choose to support those who put the most back into the country that they live in, rather than spending money with people who employ complex arrangements to minimise the amount of tax that they pay or to funnel profits offshore.

Our public services are on their knees and our Armed Forces are in urgent need of replenishing – the most philanthropic thing that anyone can do in these unsettled times is to make a fair contribution to our nation’s future and security.

Julian Self, Wolverton

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

So, the rich get richer, the poor get abandoned?

‘Raise a glass to the millionaires and billionaires who aren’t being asked to pay a penny extra.’
When a government needs money, should it take it from those who have little or nothing or should it ask for a greater contribution from those who 
have plenty?

After the slashing of the foreign aid budget to increase defence spending we hear that our government is likely to cut spending on benefits and cut jobs in the civil service in order to comply with its self-imposed fiscal rules.

Among the hardship that these cuts will cause it is heartening that, yet again, one group is being protected. Yes, we can all raise a glass to the millionaires and the billionaires who are not being asked to pay one extra penny in the country’s hour of need.

When Labour were campaigning at the election they promised ‘change’ but are we just getting Tory policies with a bit more competence and slightly less corruption? Chris, Stockport

Trump’s ‘America First’ means the world loses

‘Make America Great Again means beggaring, bullying and humiliating your global neighbours’
With ‘allies’ like Trump and his cronies, who needs enemies?

Clearly Make America Great Again means beggaring, bullying and humiliating your global neighbours until you get what you want, regardless 
of the consequences.

Cosying up with murderous thugs such as Vladimir Putin and twisting the truth about Volodymyr Zelensky are seen as legitimate tactics to feed Trump’s greed and grotesque narcissism.

Nigel Farage, with his unwavering admiration of Trump, is itching to foist this degraded morality and politics on us – I trust and hope the British people are made of stronger stuff. Guy, Richmond

British Trump detractors – should focus on the UK instead

‘Why are the UK public so obsessed with the US and Trump bashing? Should we not sort our own problems first?’
Tuesday’s MetroTalk had a touch of deja vu about it – the 13 letters printed repeated the now all too familiar 
Trump-hating remarks.

Several said Trump lacked statesmanship and called for his UK state visit to be cancelled and were echoes of voices from eight years ago, in his first term.

President Trump has never been a politician nor a statesman, nor does he try to imitate one.

He’s a hardened businessman so acts like one – speaking his mind and being direct in meetings.

US voters elected a businessman to take charge of the business of running the country. The UK monarchy hosts many heads of state and has hosted worse men than president Trump – Robert Mugabe springs to mind.

The suggestions that Europe should remove all US bases from its territories and turn their united backs on the US 
are fanatical ideas.

Why are the UK public and Metro readers so obsessed with the US and Trump bashing?

Should we not be more concerned with sorting the current, dire problems in our own backyard? Jude, Sussex

Trump’s allegiance to Putin

‘Trump is attempting to create a dictatorship in the US’
Trump stopping military aid to Ukraine shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

The US only entered World War I in 1917 and World War II in 1941.

The difference between now and then, though, is that Franklin D Roosevelt didn’t cosy up to Adolf Hitler.

Trump is attempting to create a dictatorship in the US and his allegiance to Putin is much akin to Benito Mussolini’s support of Hitler. Phil Sephton, St Helens

The real cost of Trump’s deal with Putin

‘If the US is allowed to plunder Ukraine for its wealth, let them bear the cost.’
Why have we not been told what Putin and Trump have agreed to do to end the war in Ukraine?

It’s strange that nobody has been able to persuade Putin to do this before, so what has changed?

Obviously, they are both keen to end the conflict as it is costing them dearly, but how do they do it without Putin losing credibility and facing a backlash from his own people?

Trump will force Ukraine to give away part of its country to Russia in return for a huge slice of Ukraine’s mineral wealth to compensate the US for all the money it has cost them supporting Ukraine.

In order to force this on the Ukrainian people, Trump and vice president JD Vance have publicly ridiculed president Zelensky and now, by withdrawing their military support, are effectively blackmailing him into submission.

Putin will claim he has won his ‘special military operation’, Trump will claim credit for ending the war and putting ‘America First’, while Europe loses out completely and foots the bill. And what will happen when the war is over? What guarantees will there be to stop Russia invading Ukraine again or even another former Russian country?

After all, Russia will still hate the West, perhaps even more so.

Why should Europe be expected to plough any more money into protecting and rebuilding Ukraine when they have spent so much already?

If the US is allowed to plunder Ukraine for its wealth, let them bear the cost. George Jacobs, Orpington

But, like it or not, the UK needs America

‘The UK needs the US as an ally.’
Surely if Trump’s state visit to the UK does occur, we must accept it politely and swallow our pride.

Our King and Queen will have more hardship with welcoming Trump as their guest. The UK needs the US as an ally.

We need to work on patching up our grievances and put our feelings aside.

Incidentally, Churchill tried twice to meet Hitler in Germany in 1932 but was stood up on both occasions. Ros, Gloucestershire

Does Trump need a history lesson?

‘Pearl Harbour?’
Dear Mr President, could you recommend a history book that covers the period in 1941-42, when the US capitulated and sued Japan for peace after the Empire’s unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbour? John, Manchester

Now is the time to stand up for Ukraine

‘We must support Ukraine and its fight for freedom’
For the first time in my 83 years on this Earth I have been moved to make my feelings heard.

It’s time for the British people to stand up and speak out against the bullying we have all witnessed in the media.

We must support the Ukrainian people and help our government raise funds 
to help the fight for Ukraine’s freedom and future.

It’s time for the British people to stand in support of our government, whatever party one supports.

It seems like the world is in a worse state now than it was in 1939!
Peter Morris, via email

It would be criminal to let petty crime go unpunished

‘Not every kid stealing food from a shop is a hungry child’
Lorraine (MetroTalk, Wed) suggests the person who saw a kid shoplifting lunch should have shown some compassion and offered to buy it for him.
Welcome to woke Britain!

Shoplifting is a crime. Not every kid stealing food from a shop is a hungry child.

Unless law and order reigns, meaning arrests for shoplifting, where do we go?

I would imagine letting petty crime go unpunished could lead to more daring criminality. Let’s get back control before it is too late. Ant Gee, Hertfordshire

Blue badge rules are letting disabled people down

‘I have to lie across the front seats to get out of the car – but don’t fit the requirements’

Sandy Burr (Metro, Tue) was turned down for a blue badge despite having a toe amputated.

I have had a hip and knee replacement and have to lie across the front seats to get out of the car but also don’t fit the criteria. Den, Dartford

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Mocking Zelensky was a disgrace

Imagine what would have happened to the world had president Roosevelt told Churchill, ‘You don’t have the cards – make a deal.’ Roosevelt made the US the ‘arsenal of democracy’. Trump is making it the a***hole of democracy. Peter Williams, London

Trump has destroyed America’s global reputation

The despicable outburst from Trump and Vance showed that neither will go down in history as great statesmen.

Trump lacks the vocabulary to string two intelligent sentences together. He needs to put his brain in gear before engaging his mouth. If president Trump’s state visit to the UK does happen, I hope Londoners turn their backs as the motorcade passes them. J Hodgson, Greater Manchester

Trump’s been invited to the palace

After watching the meeting with Zelensky and a mad man I cannot believe our King is now going to face such a nasty, childish person in his home. Annie, Oxford

A performance for ‘likes’ not leadership

Only at the court of King Donald could we expect another leader to be ambushed and humiliated in front of all the assembled serfs and puppets, salivating at the blood letting.

Statesmanlike this was not. This was a bully and his lapdog playing for ‘likes’ on their favourite platform.

Hasn’t Mr Zelensky suffered enough in his Russian-ravaged country at the hands of Trump’s pal Putin?

There are ways to disagree in such an public arena but this was a disgusting one-sided attack, not letting Zelensky get a word in, and declaring at the close, ‘This is going to be great TV!’

Sadly, this all comes as no surprise, knowing Trump like we do. Steve, Harrow

Trump’s ego over diplomacy

The ignorance, egomania and rudeness of Trump, Vance and their henchmen beggars belief. They’re not really interested in stopping a war, only in exercising their egos, whatever the consequences. It was a juvenile hissy-fit of historic proportions. Neil Coppendale, West Sussex

Would Trump dare to treat Putin like that?

I found Trump and Vance’s manner to be disrespectful, bullying and demeaning.

For weeks, Trump has bigged himself up by saying he was going to secure a deal and get some of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. He clearly doesn’t like being contradicted or his comments challenged.

We saw this when Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron contradicted his statements at their White House meetings that the assistance given by various nations was a loan and therefore repayable.

I can’t imagine Trump or Vance having the confidence to treat Putin in the same manner!

As in many cases, incompetent leaders surround themselves with equally incompetent sycophants. Trump claimed when campaigning for presidential election that he would resolve the war in Ukraine within 24 hours! Are his really
the qualities we would want from the leader of the free world?
Shaun Thompson, Sheffield

Not a leader, just a street market hustler

Trump, you are a square peg in a round hole. You took your street-market negotiating skills to the top table and demeaned the ‘cherished Oval Office’.

It wasn’t Zelensky, he couldn’t get a word in between you and your sidekick Vance, who wants to lecture the UK on freedom of speech.

I hope it was only a tactic perhaps to lull the Russians into a false sense of negotiating strength but the vitriol seemed all too real. Ray, West London

Zelensky got serious. Trump needs to.

Zelensky was a comedian who had to get serious. Trump is a pathetic comedian who needs to get serious. AH, Leeds

Trump has abandoned America’s allies

The 47th president of the US is no longer the leader of the free world.

Trump has ditched his country’s closest allies in favour of closer ties with Russia, Belarus and North Korea – siding with them in the UN to vote against motions condemning Russia’s invasion.

His state visit to this country should be cancelled. Rolling out the red carpet for the man who has no respect for democracy is sheer folly.

The King and Queen should not be forced to spend even a minute in the company of an uncouth, ill-mannered, ill-educated, deluded, misogynistic, serial felon and malignant narcissist.

If the visit does go ahead, we can only hope that he will be confronted by angry protesters everywhere he goes. Bob Readman, Sevenoaks

Who holds the cards?

I would like to remind various contributors to MetroTalk who commented on Ukraine’s territorial security that Russia, the US and the UK all signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, guaranteeing Ukraine’s sovereign borders. This followed an agreement that Ukraine dismantle its nuclear weapons.

Years later, Russia, one of the parties to the agreement, invades Ukraine and the US under Trump lauds Putin and bullies Ukraine. It does make you wonder what Putin has on Trump from his visits to Russia. Henry Page, Greenwich

What ‘special relationship’ with the US?

One has to question the integrity of the American people, given that they have elected a complete moron as president.

Trump lives in a fantasy world of disinformation and fake news, most of which he’s created. His grasp of reality is non-existent, so Europe can’t rely upon US support to counter threats from Putin.

Trump’s treatment of Zelensky was shameful and his suggestion that Zelensky is responsible for the war with Russia and the possibility of starting World War III is farcical.

Using Trump’s mindset, the US president in 1836 should have let the Mexicans have Texas if it meant peace!

King Charles should withdraw his invitation to Trump for a state visit. In fact, the UK and Europe should demand that Trump removes all his troops, aircraft and military bases from their territories, since they are not going to be used to help defend us against Putin.

One UK prime minister after another refers to the ‘special relationship’ with the US. This has not existed since the time of Churchill and Roosevelt. It is clear that Trump has no interest in anything that is happening outside of the US.

The rest of the world needs to move on and leave Trump to his isolationist view. Martin J Phillips, Leeds

Should Europe turn its back on America?

The transatlantic alliance is dead in the water. It’s time for Europe to unite and turn its back on the alien, hate-filled, kleptocratic state that the US has sadly become. Stephen Spark, Balham

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Beyond running it’s a social event

‘Parkrun is more than just a run’
Matt is right – you can just get up and run 5km if you want. But Parkrun is more than just a run, it is also a social event where you can have coffee and chat afterwards, which is also good for mental health. It’s possible to do both things. Peter Collins, Wimbledon

Join the community, not just a 5K

‘The whole idea is to cenourage people to take part‘
I’m afraid Matt misses the point. The whole idea is to encourage people 
to take part in this free weekly run as 
a form of regular exercise and join like-minded people to enjoy the event together as a community.

Left to individuals to go ‘wherever, whenever’ they like will not always work as the incentive to go alone can sometimes be negative. Mike Morfey, Streatham Vale

‘Real’ crime should be the focus of the police

‘stop arresting people for saying ouchy things online’
To further add to Jay’s comment about security guards turning a blind eye to shoplifters at a London Bridge shop (MetroTalk, Thu), I think I know the shop he means and I too have witnessed many shoplifters there.

Usually these chancers strike in the evening but I also remember seeing a kid swipe an entire lunch from there one morning.

What’s more, he acted as if me and a couple of other women who tried to stop him were in the wrong. He took an entire lunch!

The sooner the police stop arresting people for saying ouchy things online and start targeting real crime, the better. Agnes, London

My life motto

‘Motto Corner’
Re Nick’s suggested ‘Motto Corner’ of suggestions from Metro readers (MetroTalk, Thu), here’s my motto: ‘When you realise you can’t win… you’ve won!’ Col Blake, Ealing

Our overseas aid budget affects more than Ukraine

‘Unimaginable damage to millions of people in the world’s least developed countries.’
What a tragedy it is that our
overseas aid budget is being cut to increase our defence spending and so build up a war chest.

I echo former Tory MP Rory Stewart’s remark that this will result in ‘unimaginable damage’ to millions of people in the world’s least developed countries.

Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical attacks on Ukraine, and ongoing threats, have largely contributed to the government’s decision. When the Ukraine war is eventually settled and the final death toll revealed, there will also be countless innocent victims who will have heartbreakingly perished in poverty-stricken lands within Africa, Asia and South America – dying of disease and hunger, due to those cuts – who are unlikely to be acknowledged in those statistics. Robert Hughes, London

Starmer’s Trump card

Sir Keir Starmer played a blinder’
Sir Keir Starmer appears to have played a blinder during his meeting with Donald Trump (Metro, Fri).

That was especially the case when Sir Keir presented Trump with an invitation from the King for another state visit.

I think this gave a whole new meaning to the old adage of ‘playing your Trump card.’ Carlos, Lancashire

BP going back on promise puts oil of our lives at risk

I am appalled at BP going back on it’s promise to invest in renewables (Metro, Thu).

This is our future – mine, theirs and yours. How dare they put my life at risk due to greed.

I have joined protests over fossil fuels and we should all be up in arms about this. We have little hope for the future unless we just stop using oil and other fossil fuels.

And for people getting upset by Just Stop Oil, how much more inconvenient is your life going to be in 15 years when we are facing severe hunger, floods and droughts and mass climate refugees?

We do not have time for and niceties, we are trying to prevent more mass deaths and mass extinction. So many species are going and tipping points being hit that we are at risk of not having a future. Sophie, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

‘Trump’s leadership style? More “Al Cheapone” than Commander-in-Chief’

First, Donald Trump filled governmental posts with family members and cronies.

Then he set about dismantling the checks and measures of the US justice system and now, with Ukraine and its minerals (Metro, Thu), he’s offering military protection in exchange for backroom deals – although he is backtracking on his side of the deal, saying ‘I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much’, so it’s plain his word certainly isn’t his bond.

He campaigned to be the leader of the free world and then opted to settle for being a cut-price Mafia don. The way he’s carrying on now, will he be remembered as Al Cheapone? Julian Self, Wolverton

Trump’s Ukraine policy? Minerals first, security second

‘But, I bet if his minerals are threatened…’
Donald Trump says he cannot guarantee security in Ukraine but I bet if his minerals are threatened he’ll be singing, ‘Annie get your gun and get off my land.’ Harry John, Linton

Will Starmer take a stand against Trump’s far-right agenda?

‘Sir Keir Starmer has a simple choice…’
Sir Keir Starmer has a simple choice when dealing with Trump. He can kiss the ring, appease the Maga empire, acquiesce to Trump’s far-right new world order, accept the war on ethnic, religious and sexual minorities and endorse the dereliction of America’s duty on the international stage.

Or he can do what no other leader has had the courage or decency to do – he can stand up for what is right and condemn Trump and his takeover of the US.

The American Declaration of Independence states that ‘A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.’

Across the US, the people understand the grave importance of those words 
and the revolt against King Donald is already beginning, led by real American patriots who see that the freedoms won by their forefathers must be fought for again and that the very existence of their nation is under threat.

Having a global leader speak out would send a powerful message to the world, affirming and galvanising the struggle for our future against the inexorable march of Trumpism.

And how will we be able to justify remaining silent? When all this is over, everyone will remember whose side we were on,and that could make all the difference. For so many reasons, being on the right side of history is a risk worth taking. Ryan Cooper, London

Will the West abandon Ukraine if there’s no profit in it?

‘Watch how support for Ukraine wanes when they realise they’re not getting a piece of the pie’
Andrew McLuskey (MetroTalk, Wed) naively suggests that Starmer, along with France and Germany, should stick with supporting Ukraine.

Now that Donald has more or less made a deal to plunder Ukraine’s resources (and certainly won’t share them with anyone else) watch how quickly other countries’ support for Ukraine wanes when they realise that they’re not getting a piece of the profitable pie.

The UK certainly won’t be getting any – Trump hasn’t forgotten how some British politicians previously disparaged him. Owen, London

Shops are letting thieves walk out – is this the new normal?

‘The store would rather lose stock than pay injury claims’
Having just read Jay’s comment about a shop security guard standing idly by as a thief stole doughnuts from under his nose (MetroTalk, Thu), I was reminded of an incident in a local pub.

A guy walks in with a bag of meat – joints of beef, steaks, legs of lamb etc.

He had purloined them from the large supermarket facing the pub and was attempting to sell them at cheap prices.

I asked how he had got past security and how come the alarms hadn’t gone off.

He replied that the alarms did go off but the security staff turned away as they had been instructed to do.

He said a policy of non-involvement had been implemented for insurance purposes – the store would
rather lose stock than pay claims from injury caused to untrained security staff.

Is this the way of the world?
Susan, Oldham

The perils of train travel and the milk, coffee (and tissues) of human kindness

‘The other day I knocked over my coffee on the train…’
Richard got himself covered in a milky drink after someone left their bottle on a train seat (MetroTalk, Thu).

I feel for him. The other day, I knocked over my coffee on the train.

I had stupidly put it on the floor and spent the next few minutes trying to clear it up and apologising to everyone whose shoes got a shot of my flat white.

People were brilliant, offering wipes and tissues to help me. The milk of human kindness, eh? Mark, Staines

Laughter music and… Touhou Project?

‘I myself have recently become a fan.’
Like many, I agree good mental health and a positive outlook are vital in life and a positive environment is very important in achieving these.

No wonder, therefore, we are told that the wise try keeping a sense of humour in their repertoire.

Dec’s comment (MetroTalk, Mon) about comedy and music keeping him sane is
a wonderfully succinct answer to a question I’ve been pondering lately – why do people love Touhou Project? I myself have recently become a fan.

It’s too big a rabbit hole for MetroTalk but anyone interested can start exploring and, should you do so, have fun. Gus, London

Empire Windrush: The full docking history you might not know

‘The ship docked many times before Tilbury’
The Transport for London quiz (Metro, Wed) said the Empire Windrush – after which one of the London Overground branches is named in celebration of those who migrated here from the Caribbean – first docked in the UK in 1948.

The ship docked many times in London before the war and after the war docked first in South Shields and then as a troop ship some 13 times in Southampton before docking in Tilbury in 1948. MJC Brown, London

Spring is almost here – so are the wasps

Spring is surely on the way – I’ve just been stung by the first wasp of summer. Nick, North London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Will the West stand firm on Ukraine?

‘Our leaders must stick to their support for Zelensky and his brave people’
To paraphrase Shakespeare, it looks as though, with regard to Ukraine, ‘confusion has now made something of a masterpiece’.

Given the contradictory happenings with regard to that beleaguered country in the past few days, the person in the street may wonder where all this is going.

What is important is that our own leader, Sir Keir Starmer, along with those of France and Germany, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz, stick to their support for Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and his brave people. Andrew McLuskey, Middlesex

No, we don’t need to ‘understand’ Putin

‘Ukraine did not attack Russia. Russia forces, ordered by Putin, invaded’
On Ukraine and Russia, Helen (MetroTalk, Wed) says to have peace, ‘we have to understand and accommodate all sides of the argument’.

She says Russia feels it has ‘legitimate grievances’ and that Nato is ‘a threat to Russia’s cities’ in Moscow’s eyes. This is nonsense and just repeating Putin’s lies.

Let’s be clear – Ukraine did not attack Russia. Russian forces, ordered by Putin, invaded Ukraine. Russian soldiers have committed rape and torture of civilians.

The ‘grievances’ that Russia does have – that it has lost territory from Germany to eastern European countries – is a good thing because people in eastern Europe now live in peace and democracy, unlike people in Russia. Anyone who opposes Putin is murdered.

In 1939, we stood up to another psychopathic bully. His name was Hitler. It’s appalling to see a US president siding with Putin.

We should not attempt to ‘understand’ Putin’s ‘motives’ – he is a threat to all of us and he should be strongly opposed. Matthew, Folkestone

Trump and Starmer’s handshakes are a whole spectacle

‘Trump stares for a sinister five seconds, while Starmer shoots out his hand like a surprise.’
Has anyone noticed the amusing ways Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer shake hands with others? Trump leans forward and stares at his captives for five sinister seconds before releasing them and turning away sharply.

Starmer has a different approach. He cautiously steps forward, pauses, then shoots out his hand quicker than expected.

And when about to be photographed with another
political leader, it’s they who
extend a hand first, which Starmer is usually slow to grasp – before the pair turn on their favourite smiles.
Terry, Nottingham

Want better public services? Tax rises are the answer

‘Until people accept tax rises, our services will fall apart.’
Sharon (MetroTalk, Mon) is right to say that taxes need to be raised to pay for a good NHS, among another things – but the revenue would need to be managed and spent wisely.

Unfortunately, most British people will continue to vote for greedy capitalist governments that prefer tax cuts, hence always emptying the public purse.

And that’s the reason we will never get out of the mess we’re in. Until people realise tax rises are necessary, our services will fall apart – and that will be the excuse they’ll use to eventually privatise them. Marion, Glasgow

Could Labour’s surveillance plans cost them the next election?

‘What we put in private messages is none of their damn business’
If the current Labour government screw things up, they will likely deliver us into the clutches of a far-right regime.

So why are they throwing away thousands of votes – mine included – by threatening to spy on our text messages and throwing away our intellectual property? By the first, I mean Apple agreeing to discontinue end-to-end encryption on certain iPhone features under pressure from the government.

And by the second, plans by No.10 to weaken copyright law so tech firms can train AI on published text and data.

This would be a catastrophic blunder. Labour need to get it into their heads that criminals will evade their spying anyway and what the rest of us put in our private messages is none of their damn business.

They have a duty to win the next election to stave off the far right and prevent hell being unleashed upon us.

Labour’s baffling control-freakery is a betrayal of us all.

They must scrap this insane demand for all our sakes – and protect our intellectual property. Barry Tighe, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

The future of the UK’s ‘little boxes’

‘They will become the overcrowded slums of the 22nd century’
The ‘little boxes’ of the 21st century – small houses crammed in cheek by jowl with little to no garden – provide little in the way of quality of life.

High-density housing areas have also often been associated with much higher crime rates.

They make no long-term sense in
an era of ever-increasing population, falling disposable income and a failing health service and will become the overcrowded slums of the 22nd century, ripe for demolition just as so many Victorian tenements were in the 20th century.
Brian, Dartford

The sad clown paradox

‘As somebody who has had bouts of depression my advice is – walk.’
Further to comedy being prescribed on the NHS to combat depression (Metro, Thu)…

Shoulders slumped, head down, the stranger shuffles across the doctor’s office and slumps down in the chair.

‘You must help me I feel terrible.’

‘Obviously you are depressed.
I could give you a prescription but the circus is in town this week. Twenty minutes watching Grimaldi the Clown will do you more good than my pills.’ 
‘But doctor, I am Grimaldi the Clown…’

As somebody who has had bouts of depression my advice is – walk.

Ideally, walk in the country or in a park but just pounding the mean streets of a town or city will dissipate the energy of your frustration, give you an appetite and a sense of achievement. Frank Wallis, via email

What will Sir Keir do?

‘Will Sir Keir also ask for minerals or will Rachel Reeves just put up taxes?’
The US wants valuable minerals from Ukraine to pay for military hardware it has provided (Metro, Mon). The UK has also sent huge military aid, running our own stocks down to dangerous lows. Will Sir Keir also ask for minerals or will Rachel Reeves just put up taxes again? Giles, London

Will Putin claim Alaska?

‘the Russian president can claim history is on his side.’
Crimea has already been annexed by Vladimir Putin, the rest of Ukraine is in his sights.

How will Donald Trump react when Putin demands the immediate and unconditional return of Alaska to Russia? As usual, the Russian president can claim history is on his side.

The territory was first colonised
by Russian settlers in the 18th
century and sold to the US in 1867
to raise funds to re-equip Tsar Alexander II’s armed forces after defeat in the 1853-56 Crimean war. John, Manchester

40 Days To Life

‘a US anti-abortion group is planning a protest outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.’
I was alarmed to hear that a US anti-abortion group is planning a protest outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow. Perhaps it’s time to consider tariffs on this latest import from the US – culture wars. Tony Howarth, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Laughing your way to better mental health

‘Comedy is a game-changer’
I totally agree that laughter will help people who are lonely, living in isolation or with mild depression.

Laughing is very therapeutic and gives you a feeling of happiness. Whenever 
I watch a comedy, especially Carry On films, I laugh so much that I shed a tear or two. Comedy is a game-changer – it makes us feel happier and that the world will be a better place to live in.

Doctors, psychologists and other health professionals, bring it on. Aji, London

The joy of laughing together lasts longer than you think

‘A good comedy sets you up for a good day’
A good comedy does make you feel better and sets you up for a good day.

When my kids and I watched comedians on TV, we would all be really happy and cheerful. And the happiness lasted for hours or even days because the kids would talk about the show’s really funny bits. Jeanie, via email

Streeting’s NHS plan: a costly déjà vu?

‘PFI’s are a large part of what got the NHS into this hole’
Health secretary Wes Streeting says private financing of public services – 
so-called PFIs – could be the way to make the NHS fit for purpose (Metro, Tue).

Well, the previous Labour government backed PFIs and we are still suffering the consequences.

They were cheaper in the short term (thereby freeing New Labour from having to make responsible decisions about taxes and spending) but are much more expensive in the long term, as NHS trusts around the country are still bankrupting themselves paying back private loans at ruinously high interest rates.

PFIs are a large part of what got the NHS into this hole and Streeting wants to keep digging? The government must raise taxes to invest in a financially secure health service. Sharon, Manchester

Nato is growing – is Russia feeling cornered?

‘Since Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland and Sweden have joined Nato’
Helen Shaw (MetroTalk, Wed) is right that Vladimir Putin’s ‘criminal’ invasion of Ukraine is without justification.

Nigel Farage’s suggestion in June 2024, for example, that the West provoked Putin by expanding Nato eastwards was an unhelpful exaggeration – but, yes, an animal is most dangerous when cornered.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Finland and Sweden have joined Nato, more than doubling the mileage of Russian territory bordering countries which are part of the alliance.

And adding in the Baltic states, there are now more ethnic Russians living within Nato borders.

It is vital that the best possible relations between indigenous and Russian inhabitants within Nato countries are nurtured. It will not
be easy. Robert Hughes, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

The argument for campaigning against miscarriages of justice

‘Can Wes Streeting name a single victim of miscarriage of justice that has been freed without ‘outsiders’ running a campaign’
In responding to those who argue nurse Lucy Letby has been wrongly convicted for the murder of seven infants, health secretary Wes Streeting says campaigning for the release of people believed to have been jailed in a miscarriage of justice is ‘not the right thing to do’ (Metro, Tue).

In which case, can he name a single victim of a miscarriage of justice that has been freed without ‘outsiders’ running a campaign? George, via email

Scrutiny of the courts is a sign of true democracy

‘The political establishment repeatedly uses emotive claims to manipulate the public’
The recent Post Office and Andrew Malkinson cases prompt us to raise concerns about other potential miscarriages of justice.

Scrutiny of the courts is something that happens in a true democracy, fear of criticising the courts happens in authoritarian regimes.

Wes Streeting asks us to ‘consider those grieving parents who’ve lost their babies’ but surely it can’t bring comfort to them that the real cause of their babies’ deaths is unclear. The political establishment repeatedly uses emotive claims such as this to manipulate the public.
Kathy Lewis, London

Choices of Labour to remember

‘These too, should not be forgotten when we get to the next election.’
Julie (MetroTalk, Tue) criticises the ‘choices’ Labour have made and says that they should not be forgotten at the next election.

A suite of protections within the renters’ rights bill for vulnerable renters was a choice. A much-needed housing drive that will see 1.5million homes built is a choice.

Planning regulations loosened for onshore wind farms and sustainable energy is a choice.

Abolishing hereditary peers is a choice. Breathing fresh life into rail through nationalisation is a choice.

Much-needed devolution for our regions is a choice. Successfully delivering an extra two million NHS appointments between July and November last year was a choice.

These too, should not be forgotten when we get to the next election. Yann, Manchester

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

How are we funding our ‘boots on the ground’?

‘Surely depends upon creating the funds for the other boot’
Sir Keir’s promise of ‘boots on the ground’ surely depends upon Rachel Reeves creating funds for the other boot. Robby, Kent

We’re not ready for a war with Russia

‘We don’t have the ships, the guns, the munitions, the men or the money’
The news that Sir Keir Starmer wants to send British troops to Ukraine as ‘peacekeepers’ brought to mind the words of the old music hall song, which gave rise to the term jingoism. ‘We don’t want to fight, but by jingo if we do/We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.’

Alas today, we don’t have the ships, the guns, the munitions, the men or the money. So why are we planning to go to war with Russia? Otto Inglis, Crossgates

Trump’s arrogance is hurting Ukraine and destroying the Mexican Gulf

‘the gulf will indeed be polluted “American”’
Who the heck does Donald Trump think he is, negotiating Ukraine’s future behind their back? Maybe it’s because he’s president of the US, or maybe it’s because he already likes to fashion himself as a dictator that he thinks he can dictate to the Ukrainian people.

This contemptible arrogance from the US is, ironically, exactly what led to the string of disastrous decisions and horrendous wars that characterised US foreign policy in the late 20th and early 21st century. Ryan Cooper, London

I recently returned from the Mexican Gulf coast. The beaches are gorgeous but covered in single-use plastics – notably straws and cutlery. With Trump renaming it the Gulf of America and an executive order bringing back plastic straws, the gulf will indeed be polluted ‘American’.
Jonathan Lethbridge, Camden

Could the UK bring stability to a divided world?

‘The glaring elephant in the room? Ukraine.’
After listening to JD Vance’s speech in Berlin, I couldn’t help but wonder if this ‘new world order’ is bringing us closer to or further from war?

We’ve faced extremism from the Middle East and the terror it unleashed. Europe’s response has been to embrace secularism and pluralism, rejecting radicalism in favour of inclusion. Yet Vance’s speech, heavily leaning into Christian conservatism and far-right rhetoric, highlights the stark contrast between Europe and the US. With its gun culture, racial tensions and growing divisions, the US seems closer to internal conflict than many care to admit.

That leaves the UK caught in the middle – between extremism in the Middle East and rising radicalism in the US.

Fortunately, we still value tolerance and perspective. Our soft power is not to be underestimated. The UK is uniquely positioned to bring stability and reason to a divided world.

The glaring elephant in the room? Ukraine. A conflict Vance conveniently ignored. For a country desperate for global respect, the US seems determined to alienate its allies. Tony Howarth, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Negotiating with Criminals

‘between a criminal and a war criminal’
So, peace in Europe is to be negotiated between a criminal charged with bribery and corruption, who has a long history of seeking vengeance against anybody who dares to criticise him and a war criminal who is accused of overseeing the rape and torture of prisoners of war and who has taken devastating retribution against anyone who dares to criticise him. Julian Self, Wolverton

Labour’s poor priorities

‘we should not forget at the ballot box’
Just 60p per pupil funding for school breakfasts by the Labour government is a choice. Cutting winter fuel allowance for some pensioners is a choice. Child benefits staying capped to keep kids in poverty is a choice. Reneging on the promise to compensate Waspi women is a choice. Imposing unnecessary austerity on the poor while giving £5billion to Ukraine to sustain endless war is yet another poor choice by the Labour government, one we should not forget at the ballot box. Julie Partridge, London

A lost chance in Ukraine

‘The chance for a different outcome was lost’
President Joe Biden and western Europe armed Ukraine sufficiently to fight back but not defeat the Russian invader, dooming Kyiv to a bloody ground war it could not win.

Nato could have joined the fight as it did in Korea and things would not have gone nuclear as the west possesses a nuclear deterrent for just such a reason.

Russian troops would have been expelled and Putin’s murderous regime may have collapsed.

Now an exhausted Ukraine will have to settle for new borders and the hope to regain lost territory in the decades to come. The chance for a different outcome was lost.

Trump is right to demand Europe spends far more on defence. Russia does not threaten the US directly but China openly and defiantly does – hence Trump’s pivot away from Europe.

Our own national security is openly threatened by Russia.

We can only secure ourselves by increasing defence expenditure to a minimum of four per cent and moving the bulk of the Army into Ukraine to help defend the new front line.

The same scenario applies to France and Germany. Poland and Finland already understand this. Chris Shepherd, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

The real reason we’re not solving the housing crisis and it’s not NIMBYs

‘No one has the courage to take on the big wealthy landowners’
It is important that objections to building schemes raised by local people
are addressed seriously and not ridden over roughshod.

There are already sufficient planning approvals to solve the housing shortage but developers like to sit on them to keep land values as high as possible.

What I can see no mention of plans to stop ‘land banking’. As ever, no one has the courage to take on the big, wealthy landowners who will no doubt continue to profit from making sure housing availability is lower than housing need in order to keep prices high.

And what about sustainability? What arrangements are there for protecting
wildlife and our natural environment?

We need to remember it is a mistake to assume that everyone wants to own a property. Many people want to live in rented properties that are owned and managed by the council, not by housing associations and certainly not by private landlords.

Where is the mention of council housing, of increased funds for councils
to build houses with? Lastly, Sir Keir’s article is riddled with cliches like ‘builders not the blockers’ and ‘nimbys and naysayers’.

The public, and their opinions, deserve to be treated with greater respect than this. Chris, Stockport

Is Starmer’s house building plans bad news for wildlife?

‘He says this programme will deliver homes with good access to nature.’
The prime minister says he wants to change the ‘bonkers system’ that protects bats and newts in order to launch a huge building programme.
This programme, he says, will deliver homes ‘with good access to green space and nature’.

Just as long as nature knows its place and doesn’t get in the way of grandiose plans and profit. Joan Waterson, Barnet

Policitians still aren’t taking climate change seriously

‘Despite the climate emergency, they insist we can have business as usual.‘
The PM has chosen to follow his chancellor Rachel Reeves’ contemptuous
and contemptible remarks in respect of wildlife with his own dismissal of bats and newts – both protected species. So much for Labour’s pre-election commitment to green issues.

Mainstream politicians just don’t get it. We in the UK are miserably impoverished in both numbers and diversity of wildlife compared with the rest of Europe, and yet they threaten to ride roughshod over what protection exists for wildlife.

Despite the climate emergency, they insist we can have business as usual. Their emphasis on growth is insane in view of what climate scientists have been telling us for years.

Our own future is inescapably tied to nature. The only party that recognises the seriousness and urgency of our situation is the Green Party. A Bayes, High Barnet

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

What about innocent until proven guilty?

‘Why should anyone, cleared of any wrongdoing, then lose their livelihood.’
Innocent until proven guilty, remember. If an accused is found not guilty, or has no case to answer, that should be the end of the matter. Why should a police officer, or anyone, who has been cleared of any wrongdoing, then lose their livelihood? John, Brighton

Sexual assault survivors didn’t think police would help them

‘It appears French police take sexual offenders more seriously’
Further to the ‘peeping Tom’ getting off with a caution (MetroTalk, Tue),
I am sick of living in a country where sexual assault is not taken seriously and punishments are no deterrent whatsoever.

Office for National Statistics data shows that 83 per cent of rapes go unreported, with 38 per cent of survivors saying they didn’t think the police would help them.

Fewer than three per cent of rapes recorded by police in the year from October 2023 resulted in someone being charged, let alone convicted. If this is the terrible attitude to getting justice for victims of the most serious assaults, why are we surprised when cautions are handed out for ‘lesser’ offences? And for anyone who thinks ‘peeping’ is a minor crime, may I remind you that Gisèle Pelicot’s husband (who repeatedly drugged his wife so multiple men could rape her) was initially arrested for upskirting.

It appears French police take sexual offenders more seriously than our forces do. Zoe Purdie-Wood, via email

Hospitals are so full – they discharge patients too early

‘I was sent home early following a potentially serious fall.’
Further to hospitals being ‘close to full’ because of the winter vomiting bug and thousands of people being fit to be discharged but having nowhere to go (Metro, Fri). I was recently sent home early from hospital following a potentially serious fall. The doctor told me they needed the bed.

I was still unsteady and hadn’t yet got to the toilet unaided.

My despatch form, incorrectly dated, stated I lived with my daughters –
I only have one daughter and she moved out a year ago.

My god-daughter, a pharmacist, tells me that this happens all the time. Alison, Liverpool

Would UK data trained AI doctor cause more harm than good?

‘Any such machine learning trained on UK data would be biased’
Further to the suggestion that AI be used to diagnose and prescribe for healthcare (MetroTalk, Wed).

Any such machine learning trained on UK data would be biased to prescribe based on a largely white, well-off populous.

This may misdiagnose many thousands of conditions from poorer, more diverse backgrounds. Neil Dance, Birmingham

Shops going overboard for customer feedback

‘A lot of fannying about for a 29p Valentines card’
I agree with Rudy (MetroTalk, Tue) about some shops going overboard with regards to customer feedback.

While in a popular card outlet, I was asked to score my ‘customer experience’ by using their QR code and downloading their app. Sounded like
a lot of fannying about for a 29p Valentine’s card. No expense spared this year. Stevie Dugdale, Sheffield

The Brutal truth about Trellick Tower and the Barbican Centre the friendliest place in London

‘We used to say thank God we didn’t have to live in it’
Regarding your feature about brutalist architecture and London’s Trellick Tower (Metro, Tue). I was an apprentice pipe-fitter/welder working on this tower block around the
mid- 1960s, during construction.

We used to say thank God we didn’t have to live in it when it was finished.

I also worked on the Ferrier Estate in south-east London – a terrible place that has been knocked down now. Bob Edmunds, Wateringbury‘

From hole in the ground to monsters soaring skyward
When I first came to London in the 70s, I encountered a massive hole in the ground in the City.

A few years later, the monsters soared skywards. It was the brutalist Barbican Centre. Wonderful!

It is the friendliest place in this wonderful city, a reflection of its village-like atmosphere. Keith, London

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

'This is how it starts, with low-level sexual offending'

It was disheartening to read about the ‘peeping Tom’ getting off with a caution after being arrested for spying on a woman undressing in a leisure centre changing room (Metro, Tue).

Police told his victim he had made a full confession and shown ‘real remorse’.

Haven’t we learned anything? This is how it starts. Low-level sexual offending with low-level punishment can empower a suspect to graduate to more serious and violent sexual offending. Maggie, Harrow

Sea eagles vs Lambs – would a healthy lamb stand a chance?

‘Live healthy lambs? Wildly improbable’
Sandy Smith, president of the Blackface Sheep Breeders’ Association, says sea eagles are driving farmers from their land by preying on lambs (MetroTalk, Tue).

Oh dear, not another farmer blaming the wildlife for his stock losses. You’d think in the 21st century they’d know better than to keep trying that one.

An eagle took his lambs? Dead lambs, possibly. Very weak and sick lambs, perhaps. Live healthy lambs? Wildly improbable. TR King, via Metro.co.uk

Could AI doctors and pharmacists revolutionise our NHS… and then the world?

‘On receipt of the test results it could then prescribe you treatment’
Some people remain confused as to the potential of AI, which is a computer program that can learn.

If a computer is programmed with most medical symptoms and conditions and you were to talk to it and give your symptoms, it could then send you for tests.

This Is Not Right

On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.

With the help of our partners at Women's Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.

You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.

Read more:

• Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro's year-long violence against women campaign
• Remembering the women killed by men in 2024

On receipt of the test results it could then prescribe you the drugs and/or treatment. Then, given the outcome of the treatment, the program would learn and provide a better treatment next time. This could only happen within the NHS as no other countries have the facility to do this. Access to this AI program could be made available to the rest of the world for a price that could cover all the costs of the NHS. Zach, via email

Speed kills – letting Coogan ‘get away’ let down the public

‘The public were once again let down by administrators of the law.’
I agree with Stuart (MetroTalk, Mon) that Steve Coogan’s filming commitments should not have allowed him to ‘get away’ with a shorter ban for driving 97mph on the motorway.

More than 1,600 people died on British roads last year, with many more thousands injured and maimed.

Here was an opportunity to send a message that ‘speed kills’ but the public were once again let down by administrators of the law.

Speeders and drink/drug drivers should have their cars crushed and receive an automatic lengthy ban with no excuses.

Also, a maximum 55mph speed limit should be introduced to save lives and fuel plus wear and tear to vehicles and road surfaces.

This plea comes from personal experience, seeing the son of a relative killed while on his bicycle. The parents never recovered. It killed them mentally.
Ken Davies, The Wirral.

Drunk rollerskating and who needs such long shoe laces

‘Like PE ropes from the school gym.’
Anna (MetroTalk, Tue) asks whether Metro can print something ‘happy’. I don’t know about happy but how about bizarre? I visited my local watering hole the other day and noticed one flush-faced individual leaving on roller skates. Not the wisest of things to do, I wouldn’t have thought.

And while on the subject of footwear, why is it whenever you buy a pair of trainers now the laces are about four foot long, resembling PE ropes from the school gym? Dec, Essex

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Sea eagle attacks

‘These birds need to be controlled for the sake of our sheep’
Life as we know it in the western highlands of Scotland is seriously at risk due to continued attacks from sea eagles.

Farmer Richard Rennie has been in the news saying he is unable to maintain stock numbers on his farm because these apex predators are taking his lambs. When farmers and their livestock disappear from the hills, the whole community and rural structure suffers – shops, schools, churches, garages and machinery dealers, fencing and haulage contractors.

So far, the Scottish government has turned a blind eye to the plight of those affected by sea eagle predation, but something has to be done.

The birds need to be controlled and reasonable compensation paid.

From the first reintroduction of breeding birds in 1975, there are now more than 150 pairs recorded and they have spread all the way from the western isles to the mainland.

A NatureScot report (2016) predicted 900 breeding pairs by 2040. This will be the Highland Clearances all over again.

Not only that, when all the sheep are gone, the countryside will be stripped bare of small mammals and ground-nesting birds such as black grouse and curlew, while our iconic golden eagle will not survive the competition for food.

What is it going to take for our government to take notice and do something to help these people whose livelihoods are being destroyed by this predator? Sandy Smith, President, Blackface Sheep Breeders’ Association

Are you over customer experience surveys like this reader?

‘What do readers think?’
Frequently, when we buy something or telephone a company, we are liable to be hit with a graded survey eager to find out what we thought of our ‘experience’.

I’m now thinking of starting surveys on myself, handing out check sheets to people
I deal with and inviting them to rate me as follows.

One – jolly nice man. Two – pleasant manner. Three – bit abrupt. Four – surly. Five – a complete wotsit.

Seriously, what do readers think of these constant and annoying surveys coming our way? Rudy, Greenford

Andrew Gwynne’s ‘off-key’ WhatsApp texts

‘We can all say off-key things as jokes to our mates’
Re MPs like Andrew Gwynne and their offensive WhatsApp messages (Metro, Mon). We can all say off-key things as jokes to our mates sometimes but sending as a text? Just idiots. James, Warwickshire

Thanks for the good news, Anna.

‘Something happy for a change’
Please print something happy for a change. We have just had a new grand-daughter called Callie and she has cheered us all up. Anna, Richmond upon Thames

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Speed limits and celebs getting off lightly

‘Sensible drivers should not be punished due to the failings of a minority’
I was pleased to read that councils across Wales are reconsidering their 20mph speed limits after nearly half a million people petitioned the Welsh government to scrap the policy.

The indiscriminate roll-out of 20mph zones by all local authorities was a reckless decision that now requires serious and urgent review. I can only hope that our London Mayor, along with Transport for London and London’s local authorities, follows suit.

Rather than enforcing blanket speed limit reductions that unfairly penalise responsible drivers, efforts should instead focus on improving road usage standards for all users.

Safe and sensible drivers and other road users should not be punished due to the failings of a minority.

It is also deeply concerning that public figures such Steve Coogan, who already had six points on his licence, was let off a six-month ban after being caught driving at 97mph on the M6 (Metro, Fri).

He was given five points instead of six and so only banned for two months.

The justification that the longer ban would ‘jeopardise his travel series’ – The Trip – is absurd. Had he caused an accident due to his reckless behaviour, would his victims have found comfort in knowing that his TV career was deemed more important than public safety?

Such leniency sends entirely the wrong message. Most ordinary drivers would not have been afforded the same privilege, nor should they be.

We need a fairer approach to road safety – one that prioritises genuine risk reduction rather than punitive blanket policies or that affords celebrity exceptions to all road users. Stuart R, London

Backing nuclear power

‘The best source of clean energy we have is nuclear power’
Sir Keir Starmer pledged last week to ‘build, baby, build’ more nuclear power plants – changing planning rules so more new reactors could be built.

The prime minister also said he wanted the country to be ‘one of the world leaders on nuclear’.

This is great news – and he and Labour should be commended.

It will create thousands of highly skilled jobs, boost economic growth, provide more clean energy and energy security.

It is great news for the climate too, 
as we will need a source of clean energy to replace fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.

The best source of clean energy we have is nuclear power that provides reliable energy not dependent on the weather. It also requires less land and materials.

It is good to see Labour taking action on this important issue. Mark Dawes, London

Phone safety advice? A bit of a joke

‘A library? I’m sure a large sssshhh will follow.’
Sorry, Carlos (MetroTalk, Fri), but I couldn’t help but chuckle at your suggestions of how to avoid thieves on bikes stealing mobile phones.

He says we should take our calls in ‘safe locations’ such as ‘a library, shop or even a doorway’. A library? I’m sure a large sssshhhh would soon follow.

As for a shop, mind you don’t get in the way of an escaping shoplifter. And doorway? Just beware of the smokers in a huddle having a crafty cigarette. Jim, London

The truth about women getting the vote

‘Sorry to be a stickler!’
Thursday’s Today In History noted that in 1918, women over 30 got the vote. This isn’t quite true. In actual fact, the 1918 Representation of the People Act gave women over 30 the vote provided they met a property qualification.

At the time, only about two thirds of the population qualified in this way.

It wasn’t until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that women over 21 were able to vote and women finally achieved the same voting right as men.

Sorry to be a stickler! Yann, MA Modern History, Manchester

Making housework manageable

‘I can motivate myself by the reminder that it is only one room’
Thank you for your article on the Ohio – Only Handle It Once – method which your writer, Jess Austin, now uses to keep a tidier home and says has led to a less stressful life (Metro, Wed).

I freely confess that I have never enjoyed housework and that feeling has only intensified as I have got older – I am 74 with osteoarthritis in my knees.

Having realised that the main cause of discouragement is trying to do the whole house at once, I have broken it down into individual rooms.

The kitchen and bathroom are cleaned every week, while the rest of the house is done once a fortnight.

The advantage of this is that I can motivate myself by the reminder that it is only one room so won’t take a lot of time.

I do live alone so it is probably easier to use this method than if I was married with children, but I offer it as a possible solution for people like me who look at a dusty, messy house or flat and just cannot summon up the energy to even get started! Beth Hale, Worthing