Metro readers respond to riots: ‘One person or a minority does not represent all’
Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
We need unity for our children, not this radicalised hatred
The Southport knife attack broke my heart – children’s lives lost, taken, allegedly, by another child. But the riots that followed were shocking.
This was all stoked by misinformation – the truth being that the suspect was born in Cardiff and not a Muslim etc.
But that’s not the point. Even if he were an immigrant or a Muslim, why punish everyone else who you think are immigrants, Muslim or non-white?
One person or a minority does not represent all. I have the sense to know that the rioters do not represent decent British people.
I have spent my whole life here in the UK and have friends from all walks of life. Every colour, every creed. I love that.
The Britain I know is kind, beautiful and welcoming. The people I know are good, hard-working and thoughtful.
I celebrate Eid but also love the joys that Christmas brings. To be a nation together that moves forward in a positive way, a progressive way, a united way is what our children need.
We have a right to protest, to debate, to petition if we want to change what we think is wrong. Why riot and rampage through the streets and cities, hurting others including our police forces, destroying property, looting, trying to set mosques or hotels on fire?
It is simple thuggery. It needs to be met with the full force of the law.
Years of austerity, the cost of living crisis, the pandemic and worries for the future need to be addressed. This is what is making it easier to radicalise racial and religious hatred.
It’s easier to blame others than to look at policies and words that have done nothing but create an economic winter and invited the hate of ‘others’ – many are worried, anxious and scared.
We need to have conversations about policy, jobs and economic concerns. But similarly we need to have communication between communities and religious leaders and go forward to enable better information and understanding.
Misinformation can thrive in a vacuum, so we need to counter that so that incitement to violence is demolished.
There is a lot to be done. We are mainly a proud, great, tolerant nation – we need to remind ourselves of that and rebuild bridges and ourselves. TS, London
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There have been many theories offered about the riots, but as far as I am concerned all roads lead back to social media and the internet.
Yes, there will always be a certain type with not much going on between the ears who won’t have to be asked twice to pick up a weapon for some supposed cause.
But humanity has made a huge rod for its own back in social media. It is an evil, evil tool that will get worse with AI. Dec, Essex
It seems that Elon Musk and his X site have a lot to answer for.
I think the US government should take action against him because he has allowed Tommy Robinson to operate and has himself made inflammatory statements.
He suggest there will be civil war in the UK (Metro, Wed). Well, his X apparatus might be a likely cause.
The British authorities may seek the extradition of Robinson from Cyprus. It would be good if the Cypriots held demonstrations, like other Mediterraneans, to boot people like him out. J Munden, Croydon
What is Keir’s plan of action going to be?
I do not condone the recent violence in our streets but I understand why people are angry. This violence started straight after the horrific murder of three little girls to knife crime in Southport.
How many more young people are to lose their life over knife crime?
I am sick to death of it and find it terrifying what is happening to our country. I have no faith in this pathetic government in tackling knife crime.
What is Keir Starmer going to do to stop these horrors happening again? Denise, London
The violence of those the media describes as ‘far right’ is wrong and those responsible must be dealt with by law.
However, the problem fermenting beneath the surface should be taken seriously. Little was done to reduce immigration by the previous government and this new one seems unconcerned at limitless immigration and is ignoring people who are concerned at such unsustainable levels.
This is stoking up anger, which is building into rebellion. When people have no legitimate way to pursue their grievances, they are pushed towards supporting ‘far right’ or ‘far left’ groups.
The government should start addressing these concerns quickly before such actions escalate. It is no good burying their heads in the sand over immigration.
They must actively tackle both legal and illegal immigration to restore peace. Ian Bentley, Pudsey
Let’s end this social snobbery about grammar
In complaining about so-called falling standards, Angus (MetroTalk, Fri) falls into the usual pseudo-grammarian trap of believing that English grammar is entirely prescriptive, when it is actually mostly descriptive.
It doesn’t matter whether – according to an arbitrary standard – the grammar used is wrong, only whether one can be understood and actually have something worthwhile to say.
The example of people ‘wrongly’ using reflexive pronouns – ‘myself’ rather then ‘I’ – does not create misunderstanding.
Nor does it negatively affect the quality of what is said, so long as the content and not the form remains the most important aspect of the discourse.
The real issue here is social snobbery and the fact that lower-class people are deliberately not educated enough to know what a reflexive pronoun is.
Criticising poor grammar enforces social divisions in order to create a discourse wherein the well-educated have a vapid excuse for not listening to those born into poverty.
It also helps to dissuade the poor from public speaking for fear that the ‘grammarian police’ will arrest them for speaking to their ‘betters’ without a valid ‘grammar licence’.
Class discrimination should be as illegal as discrimination based on age, race or sex. Robert Bucknor, Tunbridge Wells