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Who should pay for football game policing — the taxpayer or the club?
So, 700 police officers were at the Aston Villa home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday (Metro, Fri).
They were there to deal with expected trouble between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters.
Shouldn’t they be fighting crime and catching criminals instead of policing football matches?
The policing of all football matches and all sporting events should be paid for by the clubs themselves and not the taxpayer. Richard Farrar, London
Samir Zitouni, rail worker who fought off knifeman on Cambridge train, was an ‘ordinary person who did something extraordinary’
If ever there was a hero, surely it’s rail worker Samir Zitouni, who put his own life at risk fighting off the marauding knifeman on the Cambridge train while armed with nothing but his bare hands and a frying pan. He was an ordinary person who did something extraordinary in extraordinary circumstances. Surely nothing short of the George Cross will do. Stephen, Isleworth
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Is there enough materials to make batteries for all future electric cars?
Interesting piece on the cost of running electric cars (Metro, Thu). What I am not convinced about is whether there is enough raw material in the world to make all these batteries and whether recycled batteries are anywhere near as good. Can someone answer that? Victor, Kempston
Reader says 1984 by George Orwell is ‘one of the most boring books to read’
Owen (MetroTalk, Thu) thinks Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most boring books to read.
I know that there are loads of people who will disagree with me but I think that dubious honour goes to 1984 by George Orwell. I am an avid reader and can quite happily read a big book within a weekend.
However, after reading Orwell’s Animal Farm and finding it absolutely riveting, I tried to read 1984.
Well, it is a very small book, as you know, but it took me six weeks to finish it, dreading it every time I picked it up. I found it the most laborious book I have ever read. Julie, Bristol
Copy typing should still be taught at school, reader says
It was a breath of fresh air to read the letter by Teresa (MetroTalk, Thu) about her touch-typing abilities befuddling the internet into thinking she must be a bot.
I am 81 and, like Teresa, who is 80, I learned to copy type while at school.
This has more than paid off as, in my 60s, I undertook two degrees and was thankful to have retained an ability to copy type at speed.
Last year, a teenage relative asked how I was able to type while looking away from the keyboard. Perhaps copy typing is no longer taught?
It seems ironic that in a world where speed is so important that the standard keyboard has been superseded by something that is slower.
While I enjoy owning a smartphone, (and have noticed that some young people are quite rapid on them) I settle for sending emails from my laptop and, yes, at times cannot hear the separate keys as they meld into each other at speed. Joy Bailey, Tonbridge
Reader points out Wisbech is not a village, but a ‘historic Georgian market town’
Your article about Wisbech – ‘Fury after “crap” Christmas tree declared an “absolute insult” by villagers’ (Metro.co.uk, Thu) – contains an important inaccuracy.
Wisbech is not a village but a historic Georgian market town and the capital of the Fens, renowned for its elegant architecture and rich heritage.
Far from being a small rural settlement, Wisbech holds a significant place in English history, even appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086.
Referring to Wisbech as a village misrepresents its status. Residents are rightly proud of their town’s long-standing cultural and historical identity, which continues to shape the character of the Fenland region. Rev Anthony William Mitchell, via email
Reader says ‘alleged bias’ of advertisers casting Black and Asian people in TV ads is an attempt to ‘aim products at a wider audience’
I’ve been following the letters in MetroTalk recently concerning what some characterise as the ‘overuse’ of black and Asian actors/actresses in TV ads.
Personally, I attributed this alleged bias to the advertisers wanting to aim their products to a wider audience.
After all, funeral ads habitually feature older people as it’s thought the ‘target audience’ will identify with them. Similarly if sweets are on offer, the ads might feature children or children’s voices. So, to appeal to a black audience, it naturally makes sense to use black actors and actresses.
I must say though that there are few Chinese people featured in British ads. Why do we not seem to have anyone complaining about that? Col Blake, Ealing
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