Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Roasted alive on a bus, isn’t it time public transport got air con?
After finishing a hot day at work with no air-conditioning. I catch my bus for the first part of my journey home.
And surprise, surprise the heating is on.
It’s like an oven and I’m told that on older buses nothing can be done about it as the heat from the engine has to go somewhere. So you just suffer in silence while you melt. Oh yes and the fares have gone up!
After more than 40 years of using buses, nothing ever changes. The only glimmer of hope is the second half of my journey on an electric bus, which are better. Ken Jones, via email
When Adam Ant makes you feel ancient
I was out on Saturday enjoying the sunshine in Folkestone. A young lad walked past and said, ‘Stand and deliver!’ To which his dad said ‘Adam Ant? You’re a bit young to remember that young man’.
It was at that point that I felt my age and wanted to wipe the white paint strip off of my nose. Dec, Essex
Don’t forget the crimes of Iran’s regime
One thing we’re not hearing in the main media, when debating the rights and wrongs of either side, are the atrocities and repression perpetrated by the Islamic regime of Iran. They are executing masses of people over small offences – and some of these were children when imprisoned.
Remember too, in 1988, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners who had been opposing the Islamic state.
Another of the distasteful aspects of the Iranian regime is the marriage of pre-teen girls while educated females are severely restricted with regards to employment opportunities.
This regime really needs to go and, as commentators have said, Iranian civil society is very capable of setting up a democratic government of the country once the current regime is toppled. P Munden, Croydon
Criticising Israel is not antisemitism
Russell Steven’s letter (MetroTalk, Mon) states that the recent trend of ‘mild criticism’ of Israel should not be allowed to continue.
He justifies this by saying that Israelis ‘one of the only democracies in the Middle East’.
It is absolutely correct for the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government to be subject to criticism in exactly the same way as we might criticise Donald Trump and the United States Of America government or Sir Keir Starmer here in the United Kingdom – and both of these governments are democratically elected.
People here in the UK should be allowed to voice their concerns. It is called free speech. JD, London
The world must answer for Gaza
Apart from all other considerations, there is no question whatsoever that Netanyahu and his henchmen are committing ethnic cleansing, war crimes and/or genocide in Gaza.
This is and will be seen as a stain on humanity and those of us who are appalled by this behaviour await justice for the innocent children, women and men affected by this outrage. Neil Coppendale, Shoreham-by-Sea
You can’t bomb your way to peace
You can’t bomb people into peace, just into surrender. Those who survive will not think well of their aggressors and hatred will endure. With regards to the Middle East, loud words and explosions are the wrong approach. Quiet words and a lot of prayers may help. Dennis Fitzgerald, via email
The rule of law is being torn up by dictators
So Donald Trump joins hands with the state of Israel, breaking international law, attacking a sovereign state – Iran.
Most cringeworthy is Trump’s ‘God bless Israel’ – that’s a country which has committed genocide in Gaza, and whose prime minister has been accused of being a war criminal. The rule of law in the world today has been turned upside down by ‘dictators’ – American, Israeli and Russian.
The path to peace must be kept open and people of good faith must shout the loudest. Steve, Harrow
Starmer’s sucking up to Trump
Surely I can’t be the only person in the UK who felt ashamed and humiliated watching Starmer sucking up to Trump in Alberta? It reminded me of the way in which Mussolini trotted alongside Hitler like a poodle before, and during, World War II. Trump and Starmer seem to have formed their own mutual appreciation society. Bob Readman, Sevenoaks
Are Trump’s voters just as scary?
Whilst Trump is undeniably frightening, are the people who voted him in not equally frightening?
It must be said, Team Trump has a very scary fanbase. AH, Leeds
Migrant crossings last weekend
I find it astonishing that more than 1,000 people illegally entering the UK in small boats this weekend only merited a tiny mention at the bottom of page seven (Metro, Mon).
To put the number into context, that’s more than the entire student population of my daughter’s secondary school. In a single weekend!
The total loss of control of our borders is a national disgrace and should be front page news every single day. Chris H, London
Should climate talk include population?
Lester May tells us how to save water (MetroTalk Mon).
It’s a pity the water companies in the UK cannot sort all the leaks. Lester mentions global warming and an increasing population.
The UK population today is 68.1million; in 1925 it was nearer 40million.
World population today is 8.2billion. In 1925, it was 2billion. It will be around 11billion in 2100.
Why do the climate brigade never mention the obvious that it is people who cause greenhouse gases? Is another world war needed to save the planet? Clark Cross, Linlithgow
Migrants don’t silence bells
Following stories about the church bells being silenced in a Yorkshire village due to the complaints of a few, and as the child of first-generation migrants who came to the UK in the 60s (I was born and educated in UK), my parents never had issues with church bells ringing and nor do I.
However, I find it offensive that Johnathan Longstaff (MetroTalk, June 13) draws parallels between people who move to an area with church bells (‘Newcomers to anywhere near where the church rings its bells should have checked before they moved there’) with ‘immigrants demanding that everyone speaks their native language because they don’t understand English’. Isn’t that what the English did in India, Africa and the Middle East. Mel BC, via email
