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Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Not all greenbelt land should be off limits, argues reader
While I totally support London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to release greenbelt land for the building of housing (Metro, Fri), I would go a step further and redraw London’s boundary to the M25.
I’m not saying that every green space should be developed, I’m saying that there should not be an automatic ban on development on this land. George, via email
That tree stood for something
The Sycamore Gap tree outrage was committed by two guys who drove 30 miles in the middle of the night to chop down a tree that had struggled to survive in poor soil and in a bad spot for trees.
That tree’s message to the world was, ‘If I can survive for 150 years up here on this windswept hill top, then surely you can survive down there.’ Bob Wilson, Leeds
Green goals are slipping away
Another disastrous setback to the UK’s essential move towards net zero with the axing of the Hornsea 4 offshore wind farm proposal, which would have been one of the world’s biggest green energy projects.
And predictably the response from most of the opposition parties is close to glee as they condemn Labour’s handling of the project.
When are these people going to wake up to the fact that, with every cancellation of a green project – in the UK and also globally and notably under madman Trump in the US – the world moves closer to an existential cataclysm?
Instead of trying to score points over their political opponents, ignoring what they must surely know to be true (are you listening, Mr Farage, Mr Trump?), they should be working together to get these initiatives into practice before it’s too late – if it isn’t already.
You know who you are, and you should be ashamed. Please see the long-term outcomes instead of just short-term political gains – your children and grandchildren will thank you. Vince, Coventry
Is anyone serious about climate?
Gareth Pendry (MetroTalk, Fri) says that Reform UK are ‘climate deniers’ who will set back the drive towards net zero.
But what about this Labour government? Last month, transport secretary Heidi Alexander gave permission for a major expansion of Luton Airport. This after she said in February that she was ‘minded to approve’ a second runway at Gatwick Airport. On top of this, chancellor Rachel Reeves has backed a third runway at Heathrow.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed that it is ‘impossible’ for the UK to reach its net zero target by 2050, a target to which the country is legally committed.
In the climate emergency we are experiencing, you have to ask yourself whether any of these three political parties are fit to hold office. Kevin, Watford
Why the right keeps picking fights with music
In response to yet more kneejerk reactions to Kneecap – the Irish hip-hop band who said on stage that ‘the only good Tory is a dead Tory’ (MetroTalk, Fri) – let me offer some perspective.
I’m old enough to have been one of the original punks in the 70s and I remember the same faux moral outrage with bands, music and gigs being banned and the headlines warning that the youth of today ‘have no respect for the law’, that they’re ‘advocating anarchy’ and that ‘it’s the end of civilisation as we know it’.
The same was said about hip-hop, new age travellers, ravers etc… you get the picture. Every few years, people who have never listened to the music jump on the bandwagon because people on the right always want something new to get angry about.
Let’s not forget what the Kneecap controversy is really about, which is shutting down any criticism of an extreme right-wing government in Israel committing genocide, aided and abetted by the UK and especially the US government. Cat, Brighton
Palestinians need urgent action
Why isn’t there a ‘coalition of the willing’ to stop the mass starvation and genocide in Gaza as there is calling for an end to Russian aggression in Ukraine?
Surely if any one people desperately need an unconditional, permanent ceasefire in order to continue to exist right now, then it is the Palestinians. Julie Partridge, London
Tory debt, not Labour pay rises, is the real problem, says reader
John Daniels (MetroTalk, Fri) is right about one thing, we are in a fix. But who is responsible? Borrowing is so high because the Tories increased the national debt by around one third to almost 100 per cent of GDP.
Pay rises to civil servants, nurses and junior doctors are merely compensating for Tory pay cuts of the last 15 years. John mentions ‘Labour’s reckless spending’ but Liz Truss, anyone? Ask people with mortgages.
The main reason smaller companies are ceasing to trade is Brexit – thank you, Boris Johnson.
The welfare state is sustainable if we tax people properly. If John wants to live in a country without the NHS, he should move to the US and join the thousands of people who are bankrupt every year because of medical bills. John Lewis, Coulsdon
Workers aren’t the villains here
John tells us ‘the forthcoming employment legislation is going to cripple business’ and condemns pay rises for what he calls ‘civil servants’ – by which I assume he means the doctors, nurses, teachers and support staff who have been awarded pay increases marginally above inflation after 14 years of pay stagnation.
I remember the Conservative Party arguing the minimum wage would cost the economy two million jobs when it was introduced in 1999.
In fact, the minimum wage was credited with improving productivity and reducing staff turnover and did not reduce the number of jobs. Whenever a government has dared to improve people’s lives – whether by women’s suffrage, the Equal Pay Act or even the abolition of slavery – there have been those claiming that the economy would suffer as a result.
The world would be a much happier place if workers stopped being so damned selfish and accepted meagre wages, insanitary housing, tuberculosis, diphtheria and polio and started doffing their caps to their misunderstood, hard-pressed bosses and showed some gratitude for a change. Don’t you agree, John? Chris, Stockport
Stop rewriting Churchill
In response to Sharon (MetroTalk, Mon) who reminded us of Winston Churchill’s desire to establish a ‘United States of Europe’ after World War II.
Sharon quoted his speech so she’ll know that he never intended for the UK to join any such union – and that the final paragraph of his speech merely stated that ‘Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America… must be the friends and sponsors of the new Europe’.
There are valid arguments why the UK should rejoin the EU but let’s not pretend that Churchill’s backing is one of them. Chris H, London
Still chuckling at that Pope headline
I don’t remember the last time a newspaper headline made me laugh out loud, but ‘Holy smoke…that was quick!’ about the speedy election of the new pope (Metro, Fri) did it. Whoever came up with that is a keeper. Thank you, Metro! CJ, Glasgow
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