Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Punish them with planting?
It seems obvious to me but wouldn’t it have been fitting if Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers – the pair who felled the Sycamore Gap tree (Metro, Wed) – were given the additional punishment of each planting 1,000 new trees, on top of each being jailed for four years and three months?
Up first thing in the morning and work them all day until their backs ache and they are sick of the sight of trees, grass and soil.
I read that Glastonbury organisers intend to plant new trees next year, with the festival being rested. So where better a place to send them? Dec, Essex
Reader says we should ‘wring the necks’of the Sycamore slayers
Sculptor Charlie Whinney, who has created an installation from a 6ft section of the Sycamore Gap tree, suggests people hug it as an act of remembrance (Metro, Fri). Rather than that, could we not have an annual wringing of the necks of the perpetrators? Howard, Devizes
Are trees considered more precious than animals?
The Sycamore Gap tree chaps got hefty custodial sentences. What if they’d sawn an animal in pieces? They’d have got a slap on the wrists.
The mild sentences animal abusers are given shows the contempt judges have for animals. Why is a tree more precious than an animal? Alan Meadowcroft, Oldham
Legal aid injustice?
Constance Marten – found guilty with partner Mark Gordon of killing their new-born baby while on the run – has a trust fund of £2.4million but gets £600,000 of legal aid (Metro, Tue).
Can someone please explain how this is possible. Mr A Bowman, Derby
Met police should concentrate on ‘actual physical, harmful crime’ says reader
I agree with Alfie Mullin (MetroTalk, Tue) when he says e-bikes are a menace in London parks. He suggests that riders should have a licence to ride them.
The thing is, any amount of legislation is worthless if it is not policed.
Maybe the Met Police could concentrate on actual physical, harmful crime, rather than tweets and perceived ‘emoti-crimes’ for the hurt feelings of the feeble. Tony Cooper, Bognor Regis
Defence for democracy
Migel (MetroTalk, Wed) suggests a plutocracy of ‘philanthropist-capitalists’ would be better running the planet than a democracy on the basis that majority decisions do not always prove correct.
But what if I don’t agree with what the plutocrats propose?
Why should the plan of a small group of people be automatically deemed the best for the whole population? What if they decide to use their power to enslave everybody? Or to get rid of the elderly?
Democracy isn’t without its drawbacks but at the moment it is the best we have.
As well as Brexit, Migel points to the fact the audience often got it wrong when asked on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Managing a society is much more nuanced than picking the right answer out of four options. Michal Piwowarek, Dewsbury
Trump and tariffs
Regarding Donald Trump’s threat of 100 per cent tariffs on countries buying Russian exports, including oil and gas.
Japan has been buying gas from Russia’s Sakhalin-2 field since 2009.
The Sakhalin-2 field is two oil and gas platforms operating off Sakhalin Island, offshored 50m deep in the Sea of Okhtosk.
So, will Trump place 100 per cent tariffs on Japanese goods entering the US? Malco, Chislehurst
‘It’s going to cause further division’ reader comments on government grants
How can £650million of government money for grants of up to £3,750 to assist buying electric cars worth up to £37,000 be fair to the average taxpayer?
It’s going to cause further division between the haves and the have-nots. Molly Neville, Sheffield
‘How not to run a business’ reader discusses Thames Water
Thames Water blames poor finances on an increase in sewage spills caused by higher-than-usual rainfall, yet has just announced a hosepipe ban due to lower-than-average rainfall (Metro, Wed).
The company should be used as a sample case to teach students at business universities how not to run a business. Pedro, Hammersmith
This one’s legen-dairy!
Did you hear about the farmer who won a Nobel prize? He was outstanding in his field. Colin Monks, Romford
