Riot wasn’t ‘mindless’, thugs were egged on
by far-right influencers say Metro readers

In MetroTalk: how mindless were the actions of the Southport rioters really?

Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

It wasn't mindless - it was targeted

The rioting in Southport by far-right thugs who hijacked a vigil to the three girls killed in the knife attack at a summer school was described by the police as ‘mindless’ (Metro, Thu).

It wasn’t mindless. The Muslim community was targeted, fuelled by posts on social media by ‘influencers’ such as Andrew Tate, Laurence Fox, Tommy Robinson and others on the right.

By saying it was ‘mindless’, the police and others ignore the fact people are demonising and targeting Muslims. M Reader, London

Readers react to Farage’s comments

It didn’t take Nigel Farage long to take cynical advantage of the suffering of the grieving families of Southport.

His misinformation and poisonous rhetoric – questioning whether the knife attack should have been be treated as terror-related, whether the suspect had been monitored by security services and whether ‘the truth is being withheld from us’ – stoked up hatred and violence and has only added to their suffering. Guy Wilkins, Kew

A tragic, senseless murder of innocent children

Sadly, once again we see another tragic, senseless murder of innocent children and sadly yet again the far right do not hesitate with their messages of hate, lies and division.

Messrs Robinson and Farage stomp over any dignity the victim’s families so badly need and deserve.

Social media spews out false information and the racist thugs lap it up – just itching for any excuse for 
violent confrontation.

Have we learned nothing from our experience of fake news and the fires it ignites in our society?

The far-right extremists are the real enemy in this country. Let us behave like members of a civilised society and show these merchants of hate they do not speak for us. Steve, Harrow

These mindless, violent thugs, probably fuelled by alcohol and too much sun, have nothing to do with the tragedy in Southport. They seem to appear every summer with spurious justification for their actions.

From the excellent photographs, it should be easy to round them up, then put them to work building prisons for themselves. If they claim benefits, stop them. If you employ them, sack them. Alan, Watford

It’s sad that ignorant morons caused trouble on the street near a mosque in Southport on Tuesday evening. Exactly which bit of British or English values are they upholding?

Mob rule is garbage. We have systems of law and democracy to decide matters.

The alleged murder culprit should get a proper trial under English law.

Hate attacks by thugs do not help England or anyone in England.

Anyone wanting to riot should try
to switch their brains on first in case
they have any shred of intelligence and decency and can decide instead to be law-abiding.

If that is not what they want then regardless of race or belief they are welcome to exit the UK and leave the rest of us in peace. Dan Hartley, Solihull

As many of the Southport rioters travelling there by train, where were the British Transport Police, checking tickets and making eye contact?

Merseyside police should have had constables on the street with Section 60 powers – which means a ‘reasonable excuse’ isn’t required to stop and 
search someone.

Additional resources from neighbouring forces should have been requested much earlier, although I suspect the police chief 
didn’t want to burst their budget and 
pay overtime.

I think Merseyside police thought they could contain the rioters and were worried about the additional costs.

The rioters, when identified, should be charged with rioting and the home secretary should seek a report from 
the chief constable on the handling of 
the riot. Andrew Edwards, Ex Police Authority Member, Wiltshire

The violent riots that took place in Southport on Tuesday evening, with more than 50 police injured (some of them seriously) must now lead to an examination of whether the police now need more than just riot shields.

In many other countries, the police use water cannons and tear gas to quell dangerous riots.

Perhaps Britain should now begin to employ those techniques too. Scott, West London

Illegal kissing, water bottles and baby boomers

I’m appalled The 1975 are being sued for £1.9million because their kissing onstage caused a festival to be closed down in Malaysia, where homosexuality is illegal (Metro, Thu). No matter where you live, homophobia is not ‘culture’ – it’s just wrong. Lucy, Leeds

Along with tens of thousands of fans, I went to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium last Saturday. Spectators were not allowed to bring in drinks or reusable bottles so I had to buy a single-use plastic bottle of water, no larger than 500ml, drink it and then fill it up at a water stations.

The queue at these stations was around 25 minutes. The dispenser announced how many bottles were being saved by its use, which is preposterous because far more bottles were used by restricting what could be brought in. April, London

I’m not one to complain but your story about attitudes to phone use on holiday (Metro, Thu) said Gen Z and millennials were aged between 18 and 49, while boomers were aged 50 to 78.
It is generally accepted that the term ‘baby boomers’ refers to those born between 1946 and 1964. Julian Self (Generation X And Proud Of It!), Wolverton

Let’s have a pint and sort out these grammar fools

I was delighted to see E Bowden’s letter about the increasing misuse of reflexive pronouns (MetroTalk, Thu).

Mr/Ms Bowden, yourself and myself could converse extensively about declining grammatical standards while sat at the pub. Perhaps I should send you an invite. Between you and I, schools don’t seem to teach these things any more, so less and less people know the difference, let alone care.

Me and you could also discuss the dumbing-down of expression and discourse in general, as populist politicians and ‘influencers’ set the tone, and educated people feel the need to appear, like, inarticulate and uninformed.

There’s many reasons to cringe as criteria after criteria is failed, so maybe the least worst option is to crack on with maintaining us own standards, innit. Angus, Hammersmith