NewsBeat
Readers discuss the UK allying itself with US in Iran conflict
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
‘Elimination of the Iranian regime’ would be ‘huge benefit’ to people, says reader
There can be little doubt that the elimination of the Iranian regime would be of huge benefit to the world and to the Iranian people (Metro, Mon).
Iran has fomented unrest in many places – most notably Gaza, Lebanon and the Horn of Africa – and has murdered unknown numbers of its citizens.
Unfortunately, history tells us that US adventures into ‘regime change’ never deliver the desired impact.
If US president Donald Trump thinks he can effect regime change surgically, by taking out Iranian leaders but without putting ‘boots on the ground’ then he is simply decapitating the Hydra.
New instability in the Middle East may not have much of an impact on the US but it will affect Europe with a new wave of refugees and unwanted migration.
We can do without that – yet we need also a nuclear-armed Iran like a we do a hole in the head!
There is no easy solution but history tells us that air power alone will not deliver a clean change and the US will experience an enraged regime, hell-bent on revenge against it and any country with which it is allied.
As such, we must anticipate new Iranian-backed atrocities on our streets by virtue of our continued alignment to the US. Roger Morris, Mitcham
‘Keeping a government of violent extremists in power in the name of ‘balance’ is unwise’
I am sure some Metro readers believe the weekend’s strikes on Iran were a bad idea and that the US should have let sleeping dogs lie.
In their opinion, the safest course was to leave an aggressive regime alone and hope for the best. Keeping a government of violent extremists in power in the name of ‘order’ or ‘balance’ is unwise.
Some fear the potential chaos following regime change. While these fears are understandable – given examples such as Libya and Iraq – if someone (Iran, in this instance) attempts to attack another (the US) and is injured while defending themselves from American reprisals, their subsequent medical issues are not America’s responsibility.
Proportional self-defence is recognised in England as legitimate. Responsibility begins with the act of aggression – and in this case lies with Iran.
Iran was moving towards nuclear capability aimed at Israel and, by extension, at the US and the wider Western alliance, including the UK.
When a hostile regime pursues such weapons while already suppressing and even murdering its own citizens and supporting terrorist violence abroad, waiting patiently can look less like caution and more like denial.
There was already violence before any strike. The regime had been killing unarmed protesters in large numbers.
Calling firm action ‘reckless’ while treating that reality merely as some kind of background noise suggests misplaced priorities. Ignoring a threat does not remove it. It simply leaves others to face the (lethal one way or another!) consequences. David Frencel, London
Reform are a ‘racist party’
As soon as the result of the Gorton and Denton by-election was announced, Reform UK started blaming their loss on ‘family voting’ (pressurising friends or family to vote for a certain candidate) in what Nigel Farage describes as ‘predominantly Muslim areas’. This is despite the fact that the local council saw no evidence of this.
It sort of suggests that Reform believe all Muslims vote the same way, think the same way, and force each other to conform to the same cultural values and beliefs.
If Reform aren’t a racist party, then they’re certainly doing a very good impression of one. Mo, Bradford
Are reform pushing for an undemocratic voting system?
Unsurprisingly, after easily losing the vote in the Gorton and Denton by-election to the Green Party candidate, 34-year-old plumber Hannah Spencer, Reform and Farage are throwing all their toys out the pram because they don’t like the result of a democratic decision.
Reform have spent ages attacking ethnic groups, with the party’s candidate, Matt Goodwin, even blaming Muslims for his loss, and yet they are somehow surprised that minority voters would choose to vote against them.
And now, pulling from the same playbook as Donald Trump, Farage wants to change the voting system so UK residents from the Commonwealth can’t vote – hoping to ban people who have every right to vote, because they didn’t vote for him.
Rather than accept defeat with dignity, Reform are just keen to change the rules until they get the result they think they are owed. Matthew, Birmingham
Westminster leaks on decline?
Perhaps there won’t be so many leaks at Westminster with the new Gorton and Denton MP in situ. J Ambrose, via email
And asylum seeker applications too
I see that asylum seeker applications have dropped sharply from 175,457 in June 2023 to 64,426 last December and the processing backlog is down nearly 50 per cent on the year.
This must be a huge relief for all those concerned with the rise of immigration levels in recent years. If this trajectory continues it could deliver a serious blow to Reform’s election prospects. E Gilligan, Salford
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