Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
The realities of migration and claiming asylum, reader discusses
I guess a lot of people haven’t understood or don’t want to understand that there is no way of claiming asylum from outside the UK.
You can do it only when you get here. And do people think those coming over in small boats have passports? That they could just as easily jump on a plane?
I always ask people who complain about ‘illegal immigrants’ what they would do if they and their families were faced with situations like persecution, famine and war etc. Surely they would try to find a better place to live? Linda, London
Reader says if people are ‘fooled’ by the promises from Reform UK, ‘we are ‘probably doomed’
The sad reality the UK is now facing is that if as many people are fooled by the promises of a great future from Reform UK now (think migrants) as were fooled by Nigel Farage’s old vehicle, the Brexit Party (think leaving the EU) then we are probably doomed. Robert Boston, Kent
‘Dehumanising language is dangerous’, reader comments on Farage’s mass deportation plans
I read the front page about Farage’s plans for mass deportations as a solution to the ‘scourge’ of asylum seekers with horror (Metro, Wed).
Such dehumanising language is dangerous. He wants to liaise with Iran and the Taliban and take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights, formed after World War II to protect Europe after the Holocaust.
If anyone is in any doubt as to how dangerous and sinister this is, I suggest they read the poem by Martin Niemoller that includes the line: ‘Then they came for the Jews.’ Of course, I doubt you will print this. Sally Anne Smith, London
Got a question about UK politics?
Send in yours and Metro’s Senior Politics Reporter Craig Munro will answer it in an upcoming edition of our weekly politics newsletter. Email alrightgov@metro.co.uk or submit your question here.
‘You cannot sit back and do nothing’, reader says we must take action while we still can
If you’re reading this newspaper and despairing at the state of the world, or you’re getting more and more scared about what is happening to our country, then remember – a sin of omission is equal to a sin of commission.
In other words, standing by and letting other people take wrong or malicious actions is just as bad as taking those actions yourself. You cannot sit back and do nothing. If you do, you will be as guilty as the people you oppose.
Regardless of your politics, or even if you don’t consider yourself political, you have to do what you think is right – and that means actually doing it. Go online, find like-minded people and join a protest or – even better – organise a protest.
Write to your MP. Get together with friends and neighbours and do something for your community. Create what you want to see.
One day you might wake up and find yourself trying to raise a family in a place that’s no longer safe, in a country that horrifies you, in a world that feels broken.
And you’ll look back and wish you did something while you had the chance. Well, you still have that chance. Do it now. Helen Shaw, Liverpool
Reader says, ‘Israel is behaving like it has things to hide in Gaza’
The UN-backed body that identifies hunger levels around the world, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said last week that more than half a million people across Gaza were facing ‘catastrophic’ conditions characterised by ‘starvation, destitution and death’. Israel called the report an ‘outright lie’.
The reality of what is happening on the ground there should of course be investigated and communicated to us – by journalists.
However, international journalists have been banned by Israel from entering Gaza independently since the start of the war nearly two years ago.
Food security is not the only highly disturbing issue that needs to be probed there.
The BBC reported last month that Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza since March, with satellite images showing massive destruction in areas that Israel claims to have under operational control. It reported that entire towns and suburbs, once home to tens of thousands of people, have been levelled by Israeli forces carrying out ‘controlled demolitions on tower blocks, schools and other infrastructure’.
Israel is behaving like it has things to hide in Gaza. If it claims it hasn’t, then it should allow all journalists immediate independent access to the territory. Kevin, Watford
More on public transport announcements
In response to Susan (MetroTalk, Wed) saying she is fed up with public transport announcements.
Working in public, I can tell you they have to be there, as people are too quick to refuse liability for their own actions.
I announced some time ago a ‘mind the gap’ at York, to which a passenger rebuked me for saying such stupid announcements. She then fell down the gap, blaming me for not telling her so!
When people take responsibility for their actions, we’ll be able to stop doing them! Adam Kimmince, Brighouse
Susan says announcements on public transport have had a ‘devastating impact’ on her mental health? How exactly? Jade, London
Has anyone actually been issued a fine for vaping on public transport?
Regarding the proposed ban on playing loud music on buses (Metro, Wed), no doubt it will be as effective as the ban on vaping, which occurs regularly.
I would rather put up with a noisy phone than inhale vape fumes.
As for ‘fines of up to £1,000’, that’s amusing. Still, at least no one will criticise it for being a money-making scheme as not one fine will be issued to anyone. Nick, London
East or West?
In Today In History (Metro, Wed) you described Krakatoa as being east of Java. It is west of Java. You are perpetuating the error of the 1969 film Krakatoa, East Of Java (retitled Volcano in a re-release in the 1970s after they realised their error). Peter Acton, north London
