Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Is it time to regulate the web?
Another week, another case of a young man being incited to kill by extremist material freely accessible online. Kyle Clifford murdered his ex-girlfriend, her sister and mother after watching content by misogynist ‘influencer’ Andrew Tate (Metro, Fri).
Meanwhile, child pornography proliferates on TikTok (Metro, Mar 4) and social media platforms stripped of moderators are descending into cesspits of misinformation and hate.
It’s time to drop the ridiculous pretence that the internet can’t be regulated. It absolutely can be.
IP addresses can locate individuals, while companies and web addresses have to be registered to certain people and in certain countries.
Websites are publishers and must be made to follow the same laws as all other publishers do.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer wants to employ 13,000 additional police officers by 2029. Within that number, we need units specifically tasked with policing the web. Rob Slater, Norfolk
Thames water bill shock
‘I am staggered they managed to foist a 39 per cent increase on me’
I have just had the pleasure of receiving my Thames Water bill details for 2025-26 and am staggered it has managed to foist a 39 per cent increase on me.
And just how was this allowed by the apparently toothless regulator Ofwat?
I can’t change my water provider and if I complain to Thames I am likely to get a sob story. Contact my MP and I’ll get passed to the regulator, which has already proved itself ineffective. I will be going round in circles. John, London
Abolishing the license fee
‘BBC should take in advertising like other channels do’
BBC chairman Samir Shah suggests richer households should pay more for their licence fee. The fee should be done away with completely and the BBC take in advertising as the other channels do. Alan, Sunderland
Is time to rethink US defence dependence?
‘our government and those of European allies must think carefully‘
In the light of recent US moves to blackmail Ukraine into surrendering to Russia, our government and those of European allies must think carefully about defence procurement.
If a capricious US president can use defence supplies and intelligence to pressure an ally into submission this time, the same can happen to us – which would be very dangerous if the US sided with Russia.
Our government must think twice before committing to further defence procurement from the US, improve our own defence industry and become more self-sufficient. Roger Morris, Mitcham
Budget cuts for the most vulnerable
‘This isn’t securing our borders, this is murder.’
The government leads us to believe that the only way the UK can secure its borders from the so-called Russian threat is to remove billions of pounds from the budget for Personal Independent Payments (PIP) and give it to Ukraine for endless war.
Austerity cuts were justified by the Tories because ‘we all had to make sacrifices’. The fact that most of the sacrifices were made by the poor, sick and disabled is by the by.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall claims the objective is to get people into work but some of the ‘savings’ will be made by making it harder to qualify for PIP – a benefit NOT linked to work – which is meant to help people with the additional costs of their disability.
This isn’t securing our borders, this is murder. Julie Partridge, London
