It’s safe to say one reader isn’t a Barb (Credits: REUTERS)
In today’s MetroTalk, one reader isn’t swayed by rapper Nicki Minaj’s plea to fans after she postponed her Manchester concert.
Meanwhile, are TV soaps getting too violent and making us turn off with their misery? And, one reader clears up confusion over what we can blame the Tories for, from Brexit to immigration to Eat Out to Help Out.
Plus, another reader explains why choosing to be vaccinated doesn’t compromise their veganism.
Share your thoughts on these topics and more in the comments.
Someone tell Nicki marijuana isn’t legal in the UK
The rapper issued an apology on social media detailing her experience of detainment for taking marijuana out of the The Netherlands (Credits: Luke Taylor / SplashNews.com)
Nicki Minaj was forced to postpone her Manchester gig after she was briefly detained in Amsterdam when drugs she says didn’t belong to her were found in her luggage.
The American rapper is what’s wrong with this world. I read her social media comments and it’s all about how people were trying to ‘stop’ her from getting to Manchester and complaining that cannabis is legal in The Netherlands.
Possessing small amounts may have been decriminalised there but you can’t bring it into a country where it’s illegal. How can you not understand that? Adam, London
METRO TALK – HAVE YOUR SAY
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Is violence in soaps getting a bit out of hand?
A current Emmerdale storyline involving Tom King involves a dog abuse (Picture: ITV)
KL from Edinburgh asks whether EastEnders is the most depressing show on TV (May 17).
I stopped watching it four years ago because it became so grubby and depressing. I stopped watching Emmerdale six months ago because its characters are nothing like those in The Dales and I’ve been there 25 times.
We now have Corrie – with serial killers, a terrorist gang and major drug dealers, all on one cobbled street. I think it’s time to say goodbye to Weatherfield! Steve, Gateshead
The Tories made plenty of mistakes
Thanks for that (Credits: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Paul (MetroTalk, Tue) says Barry ‘idealises’ the time before the Tories took over in 2010.
If he’s going to have a gripe with people who ‘pick and choose’ what to talk about, perhaps he shouldn’t ignore multiple issues that did come about because of the Tories.
The Brexit vote only happened because David Cameron promised there would be one if he got into power.
It was also the Tories who made such a mess of the negotiations that we ended up losing access to the free market, which led to an increase in paperwork and import-export costs.
Immigration has become far worse, with Channel crossings on the rise thanks to failed policies of former home secretaries Suella Braverman and Priti Patel.
And while we would have had to deal with Covid no matter who was in power, Boris Johnson’s lack of action forced us to go into lockdown after he refused to stop flights from countries where infection levels were spiking.
And then he forced us into another after trying to lift the first too early (not helped by Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme, which actually helped the virus spread).
This is all before we even start on things such as former health secretary Matt Hancock moving infected patients out of hospitals and into care homes. Matthew, Birmingham
Who’s the party with a plan?
Readers wish they would elaborate (Credits: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Barry (MetroTalk, Fri) complains that Sunak never defines what his ‘plan’ is. I wonder whether he has heard Sir Keir Starmer and his colleagues over the past two years or so?
Whatever the problem, ‘Labour has a plan’ – but just what that plan is, they never specify. They’re all the same.
With Starmer, I suspect Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson haven’t told him what the plan is yet. Alan Giles, Romford
Where I can buy a pinch of salt? The type you take with the election ‘pledges’ that are being made by all parties but will never come to fruition. Any suggestions welcome. Roger Shield, Wetherby
No such thing as a vegan vaccine
(Credits: Getty Images)
Selina accuses vegan Robin of being a ‘wannabe moral warrior’ for refusing vaccines on animal-testing grounds (MetroTalk, Fri).
The definition of ‘veganism’ is that it is a philosophy and way of living that seeks to exclude – so far as is possible and practicable – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.
It recognises that it is not always possible or practicable for vegans to avoid animal use, which is particularly relevant to medical situations.
Taking vaccines, including the one for Covid, is the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves and children against ill health. Each year they prevent of millions of deaths worldwide.
In the UK, diseases such as smallpox, polio and tetanus that used to kill or disable millions are gone or are rarely seen because of vaccinations.
Sadly, there is a legal requirement for all vaccines to be tested on animals – and it is important to campaign against this – but in the meantime it’s important that people, including vegans such as myself, take vaccines and make sure children get vaccinated and so carry on saving millions of lives. Mark Dawes, London
The long grass isn’t greener…
Rewilding? How about some litter picking (Picture: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
I haven’t seen many bees yet but it’s comforting to see Tower Hamlets council in London taking ‘rewilding’ to its heart. So much so that nary a lawnmower nor strimmer has ventured near parks or walkways recently.
Plastic bottles, beer cans, fag packets and used condoms are now nicely buried in the long grass, hidden under a field of pollen-laden flowers.
With all the long grass, it really is a politician’s wet dream in Tower Hamlets!
Steven, London