‘Have we forgotten the lessons of the Holocaust?’
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
'Have we forgotten the lessons of how man's inhumanity to man can be taken to an extreme?'
I write this on Holocaust Memorial Day (Mon), hearing about the six million Jews, and others, who were systematically murdered by the Nazis in World War II.
This is exactly one week after Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, when Elon Musk shamelessly sieg-heiled and just one day after Trump was recorded equating Gaza to a demolition site and stating that its people should be ‘cleaned out’ (to Egypt or Jordan).
Have we forgotten the lessons of how man’s inhumanity to man can be taken to such an extreme when hatred of ‘others’ is collectively deemed appropriate?
Or are some of us learning how to follow Nazi principles and considering our own country-folk as superior to others who we would prefer not to live alongside?
Wishing shalom, salam and peace to us all. Judy Baldwinson, via email
A leader like Trump is a slippery slope
‘Should we have mass deportation of immigrants here, too?’
Nick Smith (MetroTalk, Fri) thinks we need a leader like Trump, who will put Britons and his country first, and those born outside second.
Does Nick think we should have mass deportation of immigrants here? The danger is that legal immigrants could be caught up and deported in error.
It seems like it could be the start of a slippery slope to getting rid of any person not seen as being British, even if born and bred here. C Jones, Middlesex
Being a democracy doesn’t make the US immune to fascism
‘What Trump is doing is not democratic’
According to David Frencel (MetroTalk, Fri) Trump is not a fascist because the US is a democracy.
Many constitutionalists argue he attempted to centralise power – and is doing so again – by questioning the legitimacy of elections, resisting oversight and challenging traditional checks and balances, such as the judiciary and media.
He uses executive orders rather than legislation, which are the traits of a president with autocratic tendencies.
Trump has also prioritised loyalty in government appointments and dismissed officials seen as disloyal, which undermines institutional independence.
A president swears to defend the constitution above all else. This includes the 14th Amendment, which says that anyone born inside the US is automatically given citizenship.
However, Trump hopes to end that rule for children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
I would argue that all of this evidences his fascist predilections. Henry Page, Greenwich
Remain’s whingeing on ‘Brexit lies’
‘The UK isn’t the “ghost town” we were all told it would be.’
I find it so sad reading MetroTalk. Honestly, all the whining is why
I move straight to the crossword. Wednesday was full of anti-Trump whingeing, which in the US they simply call TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).
However, the one whinge I’d like to respond to is that of Pedro who, five years on, cannot get over Brexit and what he terms ‘Brexit lies’.
Although it’s a highly contrarian view to what Metro likes to publish, in the interests of plurality may I point out to Pedro and all the other nauseating Remoaners and Rejoiners that the Remain camp issued by far the biggest lies as proven by the fact that banks have not left the City and nor is it the ‘ghost town’ we were all told it would be.
The UK did not go into bankruptcy and the automotive companies up north are all still here producing.
The EU, on the other hand is now flirting with economic and industrial oblivion and we are far better off dealing with the US to secure our future, especially now that there is no longer a manic Anglophobe in the White House. Nick Rougier, Essex
Joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention
‘Most Brits want closer trade with Europe.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is ‘happy to look’ at the EU trade chief’s proposal for the UK to join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention.
Its members adopt common trade rules to ease import-export deals. Reform UK will of course cry foul but the fact is that most Brits want closer trade with Europe.
Plus a comprehensive trade deal with the US would almost certainly be both bad for the NHS and bad for food standards, in turn damaging our farmers. Andy Jinman, Worthing
Trump and Musk’s war on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI)
‘It’s not only prejudiced, it’s just plain daft’
Trump and Musk’s war on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) policies is not only prejudiced, it’s plain daft.
Evidence has shown that organisations with stronger DEI programmes are consistently more successful.
This makes sense – DEI ensures a wider range of perspectives, creating a broader and deeper knowledge base.
This is why big businesses in the US (including Apple and Costco) have rejected efforts to cut their DEI policies.
Unfortunately for the US government and its people, Trump and Musk are too bigoted and feeble-minded to see this. Helen Shaw, Liverpool