We are failing young boys and paying the price for it

Dr Stephen M Whitehead’s article about male violence is the brightest and most hopeful light I have seen shone on our current scenes of aggression.

My wife similarly devoted her life to nurturing early child development and was honoured for her work on the family literacy strategy. There is so much evidence that young children – especially boys – are being failed by the lack of youth development facilities and especially the poisonous promotion of male superiority and dominance on social media.

The need for some radical rethinking is urgent and needs to be a high priority for our new government.

David Buckton

Cambridgeshire

David Smith of Taunton, in his letter to The Independent, is absolutely correct. The rioting by right-wing extremists has been planned for some time and they were only waiting for an excuse to launch it as soon as possible after the Tories were kicked out.

Unfortunately, some sections of the press and political parties who now decry the violence have spent years conceding and promoting the racist positions which these groups disseminate. Chickens are coming home to roost.

Mervyn Hughes

Cambridge

It is immensely saddening to witness the recent far-right riots across the UK. Britain has always been known worldwide as an oasis of religious tolerance, cultural inclusivity, diversity and community cohesion.

The actions of a tiny minority do not represent in any shape or form the cherished values and principles that are espoused by the overwhelming majority of people in this country. The riots will undoubtedly affect Britain’s status as a magnet for international students and as an economic powerhouse.

Let us hope that peace will eventually prevail and that Britain will remain a rich tapestry for tolerance and liberty.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

An astonishing thing happened yesterday. I noticed on social media numerous posts expressing outrage that the government planned to extract national insurance from state pensions. But when I searched to find the details, there were none to be found.

Then I stumbled upon a Telegraph article saying Andrew Dilnot had told Rachel Reeves this measure would be necessary.

It seems, in the blink of an eye, the views of someone who is not in the government have been hijacked and hyped up on social media to create outrage around a policy which does not exist.

Coupled with the riots currently going on, it seems hard not to see this as part of an anti-democratic effort to fan the flames and undermine an elected government in favour of one preferred by hard-line neoconservatives and right-wing racist extremists.

Dr Stephen Riley

Somerset

When you think about it, bad behaviour virtually always arises from a position of weakness, whether it’s a toddler having a tantrum, a violent confrontation-relishing rioter (as discussed by Dr Stephen M Whitehead recently) or by a wealthy, power-obsessed owner of a social media platform.

These people, in their different ways, all have some sort of deficit. That doesn’t justify the bad behaviour, or absolve its adult perpetrators from guilt. But it does support Keir Starmer’s reluctance to name names, and give the miscreants more justification.

And it behoves us all to educate our young boys and to abandon toxic social media.

Susan Alexander

South Gloucestershire