Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
‘The issue we’re facing is one of our own making’, says reader
While some people are busy stringing up flags that make our country look like a cheap circus sideshow, others might be thinking that we never used to have this issue of hotels filled with asylum seekers.
That’s because, since 2002, people arriving on these shores are no longer allowed to work and pay tax (and thus fund their own accommodation) while waiting for their cases to be heard.
Before that, they could apply to work if their case hadn’t been decided within six months, as is still the case in many other western European countries.
The issue we’re facing now is thus very much one of our own making, and the suggestion of Nigel Hard-Right Farage and shadow home secretary Chris Philp that people should be protesting about this state of affairs is ridiculous – after all, what solutions are they proposing?
Meanwhile, anyone complaining that crime is out of control might want to consider that there would be a great many more police to deploy on our streets if large numbers of them weren’t tied up monitoring marches that threaten to spiral into disorder every other week. Julian Self, Wolverton
Would you open your home?
Would those people who are seen regularly at protests with placards supporting mass immigration open up their homes to so-called refugees as they are removed from hotels around the country? What better way to show your neighbours how right-on you are than introducing them to your new bestie from across the English Channel? Kris, Coventry
Who would you consider ‘far right’?
Jon (MetroTalk, Thu) objects to protesters being labelled ‘far-right’ and asks who is ‘far-right’ anyway.
Can I suggest most of Donald Trump’s Republican party, a large part of our Conservative and Reform parties, Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his Israeli government. Mick, West Midlands
Reader says, ‘the right are dressing nationalism as patriotism’
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Stop, look up and look at your fellow commuters. What do you know of their backgrounds and their history?
For the vast majority you won’t know anything – they’re just other people sharing the same public transport, trying to get by. The same is true for asylum seekers – but by spreading fear and hate, the right are dressing nationalism as patriotism for their own political aims. Neil Dance, Birmingham
Reader says not all property gains are from personal sacrifice
I see that Kirstie Allsopp (Metro, Wed) has responded to a proposal to tax the sale value of houses by accusing chancellor Rachel Reeves of punishing people ‘for making the sacrifices they’ve made to buy their own homes’.
The house I own and live in was bought by my late mother in 1960 for £2,400 and has never been on the market since.
I would guess that its value must be in the region of £1million now.
I would like to claim that this has happened because I worked hard and saved but I doubt if anyone, except maybe Ms Allsopp, would be gullible enough to believe me. Rory, London
‘People ought to have more pride’ for our streets, says reader
I agree with James (MetroTalk, Thu) about the amount of litter everywhere. It drives me mad. My wife Elaine and I regularly pick loads of it up from paths and streets. People ought to have more pride.
And don’t get me started on weeds and unkempt hedges outside properties. Please, please keep Britain tidy (to quote the old slogan). John Coyne, Leeds
