Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
Can we blame colleagues for talking about work out of hours?
Regarding ‘pre-loading’, whereby colleagues you bump into on the commute corner you into talking about work when you’d rather not (Metro, Tue).
I guess it can be difficult to avoid the topic, as you may have little else in common with them.
So my recommendation would be, of course, to have your copy of Metro to hand but also have your earphones in.
Then, if you do make eye contact you can just pull your best polite smile and point to your ears, which will hopefully tell them you’d love to have a chat but, you know, you must get your fix of Cliff Richard in the morning. Dec, Essex
Reader opposes view that ‘immigrant workers drive down wages’
Will Podmore (MetroTalk, Mon) makes the usual claim that immigrant workers drive down wages.
No serious economist supports this view and many studies have found the contrary. While adding to the population increases the supply of labour, it also increases the demand as there are more consumers, so the net effect is minimal.
Wilfully ignoring the evidence suggests that there is an agenda at work. Chris Bright, London
Would stamp duty cut really boost the housing market?
Robert Hughes says stamp duty should be cut to boost the housing market (MetroTalk, Mon). I disagree.
Got a question about UK politics?
Send in yours and Metro’s Senior Politics Reporter Craig Munro will answer it in an upcoming edition of our weekly politics newsletter. Email alrightgov@metro.co.uk or submit your question here.
The tax discourages downsizing as the cost to buyers can be substantial. Cutting or scrapping it would simply mean sellers up their prices knowing the buyer has more money.
It should be replaced with a land value tax (LVT), which does not penalise those who improve their homes and discourages empty buildings, as the land owner has to pay it. LVT was supported by such luminaries as Adam Smith and Milton Friedman and is used successfully in countries such as Australia and Taiwan. Lewis Gibson, Birmingham
Reader asks if ‘non-white faces’ Robert Jenrick saw will ‘turn white’ if they become integrated
In response to those seemingly in support of Robert Jenrick’s comments about Handsworth and its evidence of failed cultural integration, can I ask if those non-white faces he saw there will turn white when and if they become integrated? I am enquiring on behalf of a racist friend. George, London
Will ‘hysterical lefties’ give Trump credit for ‘peace in the Middle East’?
Perhaps all those hysterical lefties who for years have relentlessly slagged off Donald Trump will now give him at least some credit for helping to bring peace to the Middle East.
It is unlikely this would have been achieved if their beloved Democrats were in government. Donald Trump a warmonger? He’s obviously nothing of the sort. Stefan Badham, Portsmouth
Why is there an absence of bacon rolls on cross-Channel ferries?
I am a frequent cross-Channel traveller and bemused as to why it is impossible to buy a bacon roll on board a cross-Channel ferry. A full English? No problem. Croissant? Of course. Pain au chocolate (whatever that is)? Readily available. But if you want a bacon butty, you have to go hungry. John, Grays
Onions make reader cry
Can anyone explain why it is felt necessary to dump onion onto seemingly every hot meal before you get it? Tony Anderson, Chatham
Punny reader returns
I saw Gilbert O’Sullivan in my bank. I asked what he was in for. He said, ‘A loan again, naturally.’ Jeff, Nuneaton
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
