What do you think? (Credits: AP)

Today’s MetroTalk kicks off with Israel vs Hamas– and there’s a four-day ceasefire deal on the table, with the Israeli PM vowing to extend it an extra day for every ten hostages released. A reader has written in wondering which side will benefit?

Meanwhile, readers discuss: the Covid inquiry, New Zealand failure to keep cigarettes out of the hands of the young, Rishi Sunak’s beef over Elgin Marbles, dealing with white ‘racism’, and drama around shared toilets.

What do you think about today’s reader’s letters.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

‘The Covid Inquiry is not asking the right questions…’

Was staying home a mistake? (Credits: Getty Images)

The Covid Inquiry is not asking the right questions. It is simply trying to apportion blame, although there is plenty of that.

The main issue should be whether we needed to lock down at all.

The answer to that is an obvious ‘no’. This must be established so that any future government does not pursue the same policies that destroyed our economy, living standards, the mental health of many and the future of many schoolchildren. Sweden did not lock down and had fewer deaths than us.

We listened to the World Health Organization and ‘experts’, who were not really experts in this field.

Both main parties were behind the lockdowns and other restrictions on our freedoms, indeed the opposition wanted to go further, quicker and for longer.

Never again must we be controlled by oppressive government laws and rules, lockdowns and mandatory face coverings. Ian Bentley, West Yorkshire

‘Is number of deaths the only measure of a successful covid strategy?’

Jim and Lewis (MetroTalk, Tue) don’t agree that Sweden had a successful approach to Covid. They say that while it may have had fewer deaths than us, it had more than neighbours Norway, Denmark and Finland, which all did lock down.

Is the number of deaths the only metric to used in determining whether an approach to Covid was successful?

Isn’t it time to look at other metrics such as relative economic growth/contraction, impact on the happiness of the population, quality of life and the long-term impact of lockdowns on the citizens, particularly the young, who have suffered greatly from the lack of socialisation during the years 2020-22? Ian, London

‘Is New Zealand’s smoking ban U-turn down to tobacco companies lobbying?’

New Zealand’s new government scrapped the smoking ban for future generations to help pay for tax cuts (Credits: Getty Images)

Very disappointed to learn that New Zealand has cancelled the proposed ban on smoking (Metro, Tue).

Now that most developed-world countries have reduced smoking down to a stubborn rump, it is surely wise to stop youngsters starting.

It crosses my mind that the U-turn is more down to tobacco companies lobbying and government tax receipts than anything else. They will regret this. Robert Boston, Kent

‘Rishi Sunak should be worrying about pressing matters not a feud over stolen marbles’

Was it petty of Sunak to cancel his meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the Elgin Marbles? (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Here we go again, Corporal Sunak out of his depth when it comes to diplomacy, cancelling a meeting with the premier of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, because of the Parthenon Marbles, which we nicked a long time ago and Greece wants returned.

Corporal Sunak wasn’t worrying about other pressing matters, such as migration, which the Greeks know only too well needs addressing, or Ukraine. And we won’t mention the climate crisis – Corporal Sunak has given up on that by sanctioning new exploration of fossil fuels. Tony B, Thailand

‘I’m a white foreigner and I experience institutional racism’

Robert Bucknor (MetroTalk, Thu) says white people don’t experience institutional racism. Negative. I am a white foreigner and experienced institutional racism on multiple occasions.

I didn’t get jobs, despite being the most qualified and educated person for a role.

My accent has been ridiculed so many times that I lost confidence to speak first and unless someone asked me direct question, I would keep quiet.

I am also constantly asked if I am a cleaner. Just because you don’t know about it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. P, London

More on toilets…

(Credits: Getty Images)

Jo, Oxford (MetroTalk, Tue), misses the point about disabled toilets in the debate about whether non-gender toilets constitute an encroachment of women’s safe spaces.

Disabled toilets are single use, so you go from the outside public safe area into a private safe area.

Other toilets however are only semi-private, because although cubicles are private, when you enter the toilet area, you go from the outside public safe area into an enclosed area with people in it.

It’s neither an outside public space, nor is it behind a locked cubicle door.

No one wants to know her personal habits, as she suggests, merely that everyone feels safe in all public facilities. Paul, London

Sprouts, opinion vs truth and real sport

Most of us only really eat them once a year, probably (Credits: Getty Images)

Harry (MetroTalk Tue) says it’s ‘never too early for sprouts’. I beg to differ and think I’m not alone – why else are they only eaten at Christmas? Ben, London

When Natalie C of Birmingham (MetroTalk, Mon) says Nigel Farage ‘speaks the truth’, she means he says things that she agrees with, which is not the
same thing at all. Chris, Stockport

Darts and snooker are hobbies. Please stop referring to them as ‘sports’. Greg, Edinburgh

MORE : Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaking ceasefire agreement

MORE : Scarily familiar scenes in China after ‘mask-wearing’ crowds pile into hospitals

MORE : New Zealand just scrapped smoking ban that UK is about to introduce

Readers discuss: Israel-Hamas ceasefire and its implications, racism while white and Rishi Sunak’s snubbing of the Greek prime minister.