Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Are benefits too generous or just misunderstood?
The government is right to cut benefits (Metro, Wed). The bill is way too high and has been for a long time. However the cuts do not go far enough – there are a lot of people out there who are better off on benefits than working.
The Channel 4 Dispatches programme on Britain’s benefit scandal in December highlighted this, showing someone earning £1,400 per month in benefits then receiving housing benefit and council tax benefit on top.
That would be around £2,500 a month, which is more than I earn on my £30k salary, with its take-home pay of £2k per month. Brian Saxby, London
Is Wes Streeting blaming the wrong people for mental health issues?
I rather think that health secretary Wes Streeting’s comments that mental health is being over-diagnosed were a bit of pontification really (Metro, Mon).
He’s trying to shift the blame on to doctors for this ‘over-diagnosis’ when there’s a long waiting list of people waiting to get a diagnosis or one-to-one therapy on the NHS.
Mental health is a serious problem within the UK and rather than attempting to blame doctors for doing their jobs – or the people who have the mental health issues – Wes and his fellow ministers could fix the NHS, look at the environments these people work in, the bad pay and the rise of suicide rates and poverty. Harry, Greater Manchester
Laughing gas addiction: a crisis ignored?
‘Are these addicts on PIP?’
Every night, lots of young men park in a disused car park in our neighbourhood to inhale laughing gas from very large bottles. As many as 25 empty bottles were discarded one night. They have progressed from using finger-sized canisters – they have become addicted.
This laughing gas rots the bones and brains, causing mental illness and impotence. Are these addicts on PIP (personal independence payment) too?
Cops come and search them sometimes but, as long as they don’t do hard drugs, the nice cops just drive away. Mal, London
Labour’s economic strategy is hurting British businesses
‘It is tragic that our government is allowing that to happen’
Sir Keir Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves have destroyed money- making UK businesses because of their ideological blinkers. They are more left wing than Karl Marx.
For a fact, I know of UK businesses with viable products being forced to sell copyright and licences to US companies who are now making millions for the US.
It is tragic that our government is allowing that to happen and then picking on the vulnerable (those in receipt of PIP) to pay for their cultural reconstruction policies that no one voted for. Ed Morris, London
‘it’s a reality we have been collectively ignoring’
The UK’s financial situation has hit Labour hard. It’s a reality we have been collectively ignoring for decades.
But rather than accepting difficult decisions are ahead of us, I fear many in the coming local elections will vote for a party who will make even harsher cuts and enact more divisive policies. Neil Dance, Birmingham
Corporate inefficiency is dragging the economy down
‘overpaid corporate Britain is strangling our economy.’
We’re repeatedly told the UK economy is being held back by low productivity.
Ministers imply that the fault lies with lazy or inefficient workers. They should be condemning their highly paid executive friends.
How many hours have we all wasted in those interminable telephone queuing systems? Your call isn’t ‘important to us’ otherwise we’d have a real person answering the phone straight away.
‘Thank you for you patience’ says the sign on blue fencing around Thames Water’s ‘worksite’ that has blocked one lane of my high road for months, putting shops and cafés out of business.
My bank closed its local branch so I have to waste time travelling further (no, you can’t ‘do everything on the app’). On a recent visit, the main counter was closed and, of the seven machines, only one was working. ‘Engineers are working on it’, a member of staff said.
No, they weren’t. It was a Saturday – you can’t expect a bank to pay overtime rates to maintain critical infrastructure at the weekend, can you?
Two suppliers I work with went into administration recently and were bought out by other companies.
They need to get back into action but can’t because banks have been slow to set up new accounts. So the staff have been laid off and the work has gone to China.
The UK’s competitors operate 24/7. Many people in Britain, especially SMEs and the self-employed, try to as well.
But the dead hand of overpaid corporate Britain is strangling our economy. Stephen, Balham
Support for transport warnings? They are a hazard in themselves
‘I suspect that they have the reverse effect.’
I have to respond to Stanley’s support of ‘nannyish’ announcements on public transport (MetroTalk, Wed).
I might be convinced if there were a shred of evidence that they actually prevented accidents but I suspect that they have the reverse effect.
Being badgered to hold the handrail and face forwards makes some of us do just the opposite. Besides, holding the rail carries its own risks of virus transmission.
As for blind people, it is well-established that they rely upon subtle auditory cues in navigating the world. Some chance of hearing those while using the Tube.
Martin, meanwhile, who dismisses the issue as trivial, should realise that not everyone is as robust as he is.
The barrage of loud announcements makes using the Underground a stressful, uncomfortable and even painful experience for many.
It should be recognised as a health and safety issue in itself. Bernard Winchester, South Norwood
Mind the bogeyman, symbolic or otherwise…
‘is he in favour of allowing separate water fountains, queues, restaurants etc?’
I have just spent the last 15 minutes with my jaw on the floor.
Donald Trump just signed an order declaring that segregation of black and white people should not be prohibited for federal contractors.
So, he is in favour of allowing separate water fountains, queues, restaurants etc. My black friend just messaged me wondering whether she’d have to share a water fountain with her dog so the white people could have a separate one. This cannot be allowed to happen. I know other laws protect people but it is very symbolic he got rid of this one. Sophie, London
More Trending
’Mind The Gap’ warns of the crocodiles, says Ray (MetroTalk, Wed). Whatever happened to the bogeyman that used to live there? Did the crocodiles eat him? David Hiscock, Morden
Snowflakes, know thyself
‘It’s ironic when they call others snowflakes’
It’s always fun to see messages in MetroTalk from the likes of Anon on Thursday, who moaned that comments are more likely to be printed if they are ‘woke and snowflakery’ – never mind including a name and location.
It’s ironic when they call others snowflakes and they’re the ones having the biggest meltdowns.
And then there’s their cry of comments needing to be ‘woke’ despite how often readers’ comments fall on both sides of many arguments. This perhaps shows us even further just how much of a snowflake the likes of Anon are. Matthew, Birmingham
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