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Does free speech only apply to the Right?
Many claim Labour’s dispute with Elon Musk and X is not about its AI tool, Grok – which can strip someone of their clothes if you pay to subscribe and upload a photo – but rather a desire to suppress free speech, in particular anti-Starmer comments.
As a user of X for some years, joining to highlight the awfulness of the Tory government and my MP Chris Grayling in particular, I wonder whether that would actually be such a bad thing.
Since Elon Musk took over what was then Twitter, but particularly of late, I find that whenever I log on I’m automatically in the ‘For you’ channel, subject to a stream of unremitting propaganda from right-wing posters, until I switch to ‘Following’ to get posts from those with whom I’m more politically aligned.
Do right-wing users of X find they’re initially subjected to left-wing propaganda? I doubt it and I suspect Mr Musk has rigged the algorithm.
As ever, ‘free speech’ applies to them and whatever they want to say but not to their political opponents. Clive Morris, Epsom
Blame game?
If Starmer was asked who won the 3.45 at Cheltenham, his answer would start, ‘The previous government are responsible…’ Andy, Edinburgh
Reader says Trump’s comments to Iran are ‘ironic’
Oh, the irony of Donald Trump telling Iranian protesters being shot at by their own government that ‘help is on its way’ (Metro, Wed) when he is doing exactly the same thing to his own people. The US president’s administration called Renee Good, the woman shot dead by an ICE official, a ‘domestic terrorist’. The Iranian government is saying similar about its protesters. P Wright, Solihull
Is the government in tailspin?
Sir Keir Starmer, appearing to simultaneously double down and double back on his digital ID plan, says he’s ‘determined to make it harder for people to work illegally in the UK’ (Metro, Thu). That would at least level the playing field, given an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions last April made it harder for people to find work here legally.
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It seems we’re no longer witnessing U-turns so much as a government in tailspin. Julian Self, Wolverton
Pot hole problem
I understand that yesterday was National Pothole Day. I wonder what substance will be used to fill the potholes this year? Candy-floss or papier-mâché, perhaps? Whatever it is, it will once again be ineffectual. Martin Lawrence, South Croydon
‘Dog mess has reappeared’, says reader
The season of goodwill is scarcely over and already the dog mess has reappeared.
Presumably this is the result of dogs bought over Christmas, whose owners are now finding clearing up after them so very tiresome.
No smaller streets or alleyways are safe – these have become unofficial dogs’ toilets. And with their strong sense of smell, dogs tend to return where they’ve been before.
Not everybody loves dogs, but those who do need to be reminded of their responsibilities. Antony Porter, London
Was Guildford’s ban ‘an admission that the police have lost control of the streets’
West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford’s banning of Israeli football fans from an Aston Villa game was an admission that the police have lost control of the streets (Metro, Thu). The two factions of protesters and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans could have been kept apart but they chose to ban the fans.
That doesn’t look like control, it looks more like appeasement. Roger, Wolverhampton
Reader encourages new years resolutions: it’s not too late
The trick to New Year’s resolutions is to make them one-off things to do rather than constant things to avoid.
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That way you can’t ‘fail’ halfway through January and you’ll be adding more positivity into your life, rather than getting rid of things you like.
And if you’ve ‘failed’ your old resolutions, it’s never too late to try new ones. Charlie Parrett, Stoke
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