Self-promoting Sunak, lest we forget and do young care about D-Day?

In MetroTalk, readers are sharing their thoughts on the D-Day commemorations with plenty of questions.

Why did Rishi Sunak think it was okay to leave the event early for an interview? The prime minister himself called it a major PR mistep, in the a heat of a General Election campaign. But does that justify his decision? But more importantly, will it anger voters?

Meanwhile, are the men who fought on the beaches of Normandy a bygone breed? Considering how many young people oppose the prospect of National Service proposed the Tories. And, one reader wonders where Charles earned all those medals from?

Share your thoughts on these topics and more in the comments.

I thought it was an absolute disgrace that Sunak left the D-Day events early. Clearly he thinks his election campaign is more important than the lives of those who died in the operation that helped to save Europe. Jane, Huddersfield

The tears of our Queen as she listened to Royal Navy serviceman Eric Bateman describing his sad memories of the momentous events of D-Day (Metro, Thu) moved me to tears, too.

My late father served in the Royal Navy during the war – on patrol boats in the north Atlantic and on a minesweeper off Omaha Beach on D-Day.

Thankfully, he survived the war, but so many servicemen and women did not. They bravely gave up their lives to save humanity from the horrors of Nazism.

Long may their heroism be remembered. Alan Jensen, West Hampstead

Do the kids care about D-Day?

Those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the beaches of Normandy were a different generation who loved their country and had loyalty to their King.

They didn’t have mobile phones or the internet. They didn’t have a choice but knew they had to rid the world of the
evil Nazis.

So why is it a joke to now give the younger generation National Service? Is it because the Conservatives came up with the idea?

Labour have this idiotic idea of giving 16-year-olds the right to vote yet nobody criticised that idea. Double standards.

This generation haven’t got a clue. They don’t know what day of the week it is, they’re too busy on their social media and not patriotic like the old generation.

They probably don’t have any idea about D-Day, or even care. Tommy, London

King Charles and his medals

What an insult to our veteran heroes that King Charles was at their event with a chestful of medals. What did he ever do? John Lewis, Liverpool

Brexit: more negatives than positives

A couple of correspondents (MetroTalk, Fri) still claim Brexit is good and gave examples. One says there’s more freedom. Freedom in what? Travelling freely between the UK instead of 27 EU countries? Freedom to do business full of additional costs and bureaucracy? And now even freedom to be forced into a National Service?

Another blames the EU for the rise in foodbanks and poverty. It has been shown time and time again that EU migrants have contributed more to the UK economy than they benefited from it.

Also Brexit was decided eight years ago, and officially came in four years ago, yet foodbank usage is still on the rise. How can that be the fault of the EU? Pedro, Hammersmith

Desperation doesn’t equal dedication to work

How on earth does Ryan (MetroTalk, Fri) conclude that any immigrants ‘willing to make the most difficult journey’ – ie those illegally arriving by boat – are likely to be the hardest workers? That’s like saying that if I go to the cornershop, I must be good at shopping.

In any case, it doesn’t prove they have skills this country is looking for.

Instead of encouraging legal and appropriate immigration, he’s trying to encourage illegal crossings and thereby support both the exploitation of people and the trade in people-smuggling. Paul, London

So who cleaned up the milkshake?

Looking at the photo of the young woman – who some might suggest has had cosmetic surgery – hurling a milkshake at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Metro, Thu), I doubted she knew anything about politics.

Later it was revealed that she’s an OnlyFans model. I was right. Shameless self-publicity for her site. Edna, London

Michael (MetroTalk, Thu) points out that the mess caused by the Farage milkshake-thrower will be cleaned up ‘by an underpaid council worker, mopping up after the pointless protest’.

If people really want to protest, they ought to vote. Vivian, London

Short is sweet, phones take priority over food and spot the clichés in EastEnders

Diminutive Dan (MetroTalk, Thu) says ‘as a short and slim male, I’ve
never been particularly successful with the ladies’. Dan, please don’t think all women go for the conventional – some might say boring! – ‘tall, dark and handsome’.

I’m a tall woman who has often been attracted to smaller men. They’re usually more sensitive and lack the vanity and awful macho attitudes of many other men. I know from my friends that I’m not alone. Stand small and proud, Dan. There’s a lovely woman out there for you. Jinny, London

Primary school children are turning up hungry and cold, and teachers use their own money to provide them with food and clothing (Metro, Wed).
Teachers have expressed concerns about the effect (expensive) mobile phones brought to schools by children in the same age group has on their concentration and education. Could this be two sides of the s­ame coin? Poor parenting and not governmental failure? Keith Dutton, by email

To add to the MetroTalk debate about EastEnders, in any given episode of the soap, does anyone do any of the following? Dash in to the Queen Vic looking for someone only to find they’re not there and then leave; shout at someone and then storm out of the room; sit in the café on their own, staring vacantly into a coffee.

If the answer is yes to any of these, then it’s still the same as when I used to watch it. Dec, Essex

Is it me or does EastEnders have about 75 per cent of the cast members it had when it began on BBC1 nearly 40 years ago? Corrie Fan, Leeds

What are your thoughts? Have your say in the comments belowComment Now