Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Reader calls Farage a ‘minor but mouthy politician’
The disgraceful injunction (Metro, Wed) issued against housing asylum seekers in the Bell Hotel, Epping, must be appealed against.
Epping Forest district council sought the court order after the hotel became the centre for protests and counter-protests.
An asylum seeker staying there has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, who he was said to have tried to kiss.
The council said the hotel had been the ‘catalyst’ for ‘an increase in community tension’. Its owner plans to appeal.
In effect, the injunction allows racists and fascists to arrange violent protests to get refugees moved out of any hotel in any part of the country.
We are a tolerant country despite this small violent group urged on by minor but mouthy politicians such as Nigel Farage.
Epping council, shame on you. George, via email
Does the ‘far left’ exist?
George (MetroTalk, Tue) says the government encouraging police forces to release the ethnicity of suspects is a ‘pathetic capitulation to far-right mobs’.
Can he name one group or a political entity in this country that’s ‘far right’? Or is he just parroting the ‘far right’ narrative that’s starting to get tedious?
The term ‘far right’ is often spouted yet the ones spouting it never name a specific group. And how come the ‘far left’ is never mentioned, as it does exist?
The protests in Epping are about safety for women and girls – you know, the very thing Jess Phillips, the minister for violence against women and girls, campaigns for yet has been very quiet on since these protests started.
And why do these pro-migrant and refugee counter-protesters always have their faces covered?
If you’re passionate about your cause, show us who you are – otherwise it appears you’re hiding your face for nefarious reasons.
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Also, to answer George’s question about whether police will release the ethnicity of the Liverpool fan who racially abused Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, there’s no need to. It was caught on camera and everyone saw who he was.
Sounds like he’s picking an argument for the sake of it. Jon, Birmingham
What’s worse, being taxed when selling or buying?
Your report on the property tax proposal was very one-sided. Why is it worse to pay a tax on selling a house as opposed to when buying it?
Capital gains tax on an increase in value is a tax on wealth that is unearned and unavailable to those who do not own their homes.
Your article quotes the disapproving TaxPayers’ Alliance, a shady junktank funded by large corporations, not individual taxpayers. James Murray-Smith, Muswell Hill
Farage and his football shirt…
Remember the outcry when Team GB had a flag of different colours before last year’s Olympics?
Nigel Farage erupted at the thought of such a thing. Yet his new Reform UK ‘football shirt’ has a plain white union flag.
The irony is not lost on me. Neil Dance, Birmingham
‘It would be unrealistic to expect commuting to take priority over the NHS, education and pensions’, says reader
Further to the 5.5 per cent rise in rail fares coming down the track and Angela’s view (MetroTalk, Wed) that this constitutes a ‘declaration of war on commuters’.
The country is living beyond its means yet there is infinite demand on government funds. It would be more of a story if it was decided fares were not going up and unrealistic to expect commuting be made cheaper and take priority over the NHS, education and pensions.
If you do not get the service you pay for as a passenger, you can obtain compensation for severe delays.
And while Angela is right to resent the renumeration of bosses for a job with no element of risk, this is a tiny proportion of the total budget and not the reason for high fares.
Adrian (MetroTalk, Wed), meanwhile, says those who do not use public transport should be made to subsidise buses and trains to drive down prices and encourage their greater use – but these already enjoy taxpayer subsidy.
And what about balancing fairness to taxpayers in rural areas where public transport is scarce? Rupert Fast, Esher
‘We must not let them become the forgotten army’, reader comments on VJ day commemorations
I was disappointed with the commemorations for VJ Day compared with VE Day. Bearing in mind the brutality and conditions faced by those fighting against such a fanatical enemy in the Pacific, as a country we must not let them become the forgotten army. Dave, Sutton-in-Ashfield
Keep the streets clean!
Why is there so much litter on our streets? It’s everywhere. We are happy to pick up dog poo but not litter.
Get a grip, people. Bin the bottle, can the can, scrap the wrapper. Do your little bit to keep Britain tidy because at the moment it’s just rubbish. James, Sheffield
