Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
Do we need to prepare for war with Russia?
Nato chief Mark Rutte has warned that the UK and allies must prepare for war (Metro, Fri) and, with a criminal at the helm of the largest country in the world, Putin’s threats cannot be ignored.
There is an apt expression, si vis pacem, para bellum – if you want peace, prepare for war. Putin preys on the weak and Nato – and particularly Europe – is nowhere near ready to deter Russia.
The UK must bring up to standard the ships, aircraft and land forces’ equipment we have today.
Action must be taken to improve recruitment and, particularly, the retention of service personnel.
Smart use of cyber and development of drones is a priority. Much more investment in new equipment is urgently required.
The Ministry of Defence must be organised more efficiently, both financially and operationally. Defence is now far too expensive for any European nation to do everything. Maritime Britain must be the UK priority (trade, British interests worldwide, protection of home waters and the Eastern Atlantic) while other European nations are better suited to provide most of Nato’s land and air forces.
Unsentimental reorganisation of defence is essential.
It is fortunate that the present heads of the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Marines have led UK Special Forces, noting the present chief of defence staff, and his vice chief are, arguably, Whitehall warriors. Lester May (Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy – Retired), London
MPs should stop ‘claiming rent on their second an third homes’, says reader
If Britain is to heed Mark Rutte’s advice and prepare for war, one way to do it would be for Sir Keir Starmer to put an end to MPs claiming rent on their second/third homes from the taxpayer and use the funds to increase defence expenditure. Samuel, Tooting
Is the world ‘at its most dangerous’?
The world is now at its most dangerous. The Russia-Ukraine war started with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and shows no sign of ending anytime soon.
China has been ramping up its threats to Taiwan. Russia and China have held joint military manoeuvres on land and at sea. The Office for Budget Responsibility has said that the cost of achieving UK net zero by 2050 will be £803billion.
Meanwhile, politicians of all parties have reduced the UK armed forces to a miserable 148,230.
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We should be spending money now to prevent war, not on trying to prevent climate change which may or may not happen in ten, 50 or 100 years’ time.
There are around 940,000 young people aged 16 to 24-years-old who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs) but taking taxpayers’ money. So let’s bring back National Service – conscripting these NEETs will increase our forces to more than one million and deter Putin. Clark Cross, Linlithgow
If there is a new war in Europe involving a Nato country and Russia, what’s the betting Trump’s America won’t get involved.
Too frightened? Too friendly with Russia? Too much to lose? All three!
Meanwhile Putin doesn’t care if Russia is destroyed, he cares nothing for his people, he only cares about Russian power and might. Hundreds of millions of lives will be lost, and we may all not see 2026. Richard Farrar, London
Do rail commuters need to find a better cause?
Rail commuters raised more than £4,000 to pay for a bronze statue of a dead cat that used to hang around Stevenage Station (Metro, Wed).
I’m appalled at the priorities of these commuters. Would it not have been better to have donated the money to Unicef Ukraine? Philip Hatcheson, via email
Reader says levels of migration are ‘unsustainable’.
The government have been telling us that their policies on immigration have been working as there have been no Channel crossings for 28 days – the longest period without any small boat crossings in seven years.
However, on Saturday this was proved to be delusionary as 700 migrants crossed the Channel. Why did they cross on Saturday? Because the weather improved.
The total of migrant crossings for the year is more than 40,000. These figures are unsustainable – when will this Labour government recognise this? Molly Neville, Sheffield
