The US intelligence leaks after the Manchester attack prove the UK should be autonomous from America

The Trump administration’s disregard for the protocols of sharing security information may be the first step in allowing Britain to regain its sovereignty and independence from US hegemony. It is because of successive British governments’ willingness to follow US interventions willy-nilly that has got us into this terrible mess. A British security and foreign policy autonomous from Trump’s incompetence would, arguably, make us more secure than we are today.

Geoff Naylor
Winchester

Words cannot describe the horror of the Manchester attack

Words can’t describe the horrific tragedy in Manchester where at least 22 people have lost their lives including innocent children.

Nothing can justify this horrific act. No religion, no ideology or even animalistic way of life can condone it.

When these events take place and the suspect is perceived to be a crazy Muslim, all the switches of reasoning are turned off. Emotion takes over. No questions are asked.

While Muslims are themselves the target of terrorism, they are also perceived as the culprits and they pay the price twice.

My deep and sincere condolences to those who have lost their loved ones and those who sustained injury. They must be going through agony, mental anguish and sadness for losing a loved one.

I apologise on behalf of those misguided Muslims whom might have deliberately masterminded this tragedy.

I assure you that they don’t represent me, not the vast majority of my fellow believers who are peace loving people and whose faith stipulates the killing of a person unjustly is the same as killing the entirety of humanity.

I am sorry for your loss. What had happened to your loved ones can’t be justified.

We as humans bear the responsibility, whether we are politicians who have been involved in actions that are fuelling this kind of madness or whether we as people haven’t done enough to reach out to our human nature to tackle extremism, injustices, invasions of other countries, supporting dictators or simply not speaking up against corruption whether at home or abroad.

The madness we are witnessing is an unhealthy phenomenon which has affected all humanity, irrespective of creed or colour. Humanity has lost its human touch. May we all be guided to find common terms to work together for the betterment of humanity and its surroundings.

Abubakar N Kasim
Toronto, Canada

Where is the funding for 007 when we need it?

Home Secretary Amber Rudd described American leaks of shared British intelligence as “irritating” but, given the potential risks to the public, she should also be asking Bond if Felix Leiter has been fired and replaced by Sheriff JW Pepper, as seems the case.

Perhaps it’s time for M to bring 007 out of retirement and for the next government to dramatically increase the secret service budget. RIP Roger Moore (and Clifton James).

Barry Rose
Brockham

Theresa May has lost her credibility

It is a bit rich for Theresa May to accuse the Labour Party of having a “black hole” in its manifesto proposals. It is only because they have produced a comprehensive costings document to accompany it that she is able to criticise their costings. On the other hand there appear to be few if any costings associated with the Conservative’s, sorry, Theresa May’s proposals.

One of the few they have attached any figure to is the crazy idea of free breakfasts. That costing has been shown to be a complete fantasy, allocating a few pence per day per child, relying on low uptake, donated food and no account for staffing costs.

How can they have any credibility when even they admit they don’t know what their main policies will cost.

G Forward
Stirling

We need to focus on peace, not arms sales

Patrick Cockburn’s analysis of Islamist extremism was informative and challenging. The root causes of extremism, namely proxy wars and the multi-billion dollar/pound weapon sales to Saudi Arabia from the UK and US is utterly evil. It is paradoxical that Trump signed a huge arms deal with Saudi Arabia only a few days ago.

The Manchester atrocity was mindless brutality, beneath contempt, but let us not forget that in Yemen ordinary people and their children are also exposed to this kind of horror on a regular basis. Highly accurate missiles were used to destroy dockside cranes, and presumably dockers, preventing the import of food and medical supplies to the detriment of the weakest and the youngest.

Suicide bombers, arms traders and Western power politics are all to blame for this lamentable state in the Middle East. What if the money were spent on peace?

John Crosskey
​Address supplied

We need an inclusive society if we are to tackle extremism

A common response to acts of terrorism is that we must be united. Humans have evolved a very powerful emotion based on bonding. We all want to be part of something. Terrorists want to be part of something. Their desire to be included in whatever it is that attracts them is far stronger than any fear of retribution. To eliminate terrorism we must include everyone in the society that we build. A world society that is stronger than any tribal or religious differences. United in including everyone so no one feels excluded and alienated from it. Only then will we defeat the causes of terrorism.

Jon Hawksley​
London