The world stands with London against terrorism

My heart sank upon hearing the news of a terror attack in Westminster. I fear the perpetrators are Muslims. It is time for the vast silent majority of Muslims to stand up and speak up against heinous atrocities committed in the name of Islam, a beautiful religion which commands people who follow its faith to espouse tolerance, compassion, mercy, mutual respect, peace, justice and harmony.

Those who committed such an evil thing do not represent Islam in any shape or form. They are intent on sowing the seeds of fear, anxiety and suspicion amongst us and tearing communities apart. We should unite and strengthen our human bond and never allow them to succeed.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob London NW2

Americans grieve with you over the trauma, injuries and loss of life at Westminster. We remember how you supported us after 9/11. What we don't support is the outrageous tweet from Donald Trump, Jr. There's no place for such callous comments, ever.

Please know we will support your efforts against terrorism no matter how it comes – by car, by plane, or by Twitter.

Mary J Conway US

Peace be upon the people of the United Kingdom at a time when peace has become a hard-to-find commodity. There is very sad and troubling news coming from the UK. In the aftermath of this terror attack, emotions will run high and speculations will grow wildly. Right-wing politicians will be joyful and will use it to avoid the real issues facing them.

Truth in these incidents becomes the first casualty. Trump and his like receive it with overwhelming joy and celebrate. May humanity be inspired to establish peace and justice.

Abubakar Kasim Toronto, Canada

It is sad to see terror on the streets of London again and my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Clearly measures taken to prevent such attacks have failed and proved to be counterproductive.

Additionally, it is essential that a foreign policy based on military interventions is taken into consideration when dealing with the causes of terror. Socio-economic inequalities also need to be tackled, and fairer media coverage of sensitive issues that can be inflammatory and contribute to racial tension and further segregation should be paramount.

Mohammed Samaana Belfast

Is there any truth in a BBC anti-Brexit bias?

I was staggered to learn that a group of anti-EU MPs has written to the BBC complaining of bias against the Leave campaign. On 21 April last year, just as the referendum campaign was hotting up, the panel on Question Time consisted of the following: representing the Government, which, remember, was officially in favour of remaining in the EU, was Liam Fox, a rampant Brexiteer and now one of the three Brexiteers. Representing Her Majesty's Opposition, which was also officially in favour of Remain, was Kate Hoey, who was one of relatively few Labour pro-Leave MPs. In case this was not enough, this choice pair was backed up by Tim Martin, the chairman of Wetherspoons, who had donated large sums of money to the Leave campaign.

True, the Remain side was represented by Paddy Ashdown, who was strongly in favour of remaining in the union, and making up the numbers was Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, who was weakly in favour of Remain but who seemed to be unwilling to commit herself, possibly because she was aware of anti-EU sentiments among many in South Wales. That Ashdown was able to hold his own in this company goes without saying, but that the BBC could put together such a panel at a crucial time beggars belief. BBC bias? Maybe, but on which side of the argument?

Robert Curtis Birmingham

An independent, anti-Brexit Scotland would be a delight to live in

‘This is what Scottish independence could actually look like’, the article by Sean O’Grady, was a delight and plausible. My wife and I anticipate emigrating to Scotland in due course and look forward to contributing to the project. Ideally, the area north of the Humber and the Mersey will secede as well – which would make a hard border much easier to administer.

I offer the mildly seditious suggestion that the SNP, the Lib Dems and Greens (if, as I hope, the latter two commit to thoroughgoing stop-Brexit manifestos) adopt the habit of singing, with proper European passion, the Europahymne at their conferences. That would bring Tory haemorrhoids right down!

Steve Ford Haydon Bridge

This electronics on flights ban makes no sense

If the US and UK are to ban tablets and laptops from aeroplane cabins, then why not include mobile phones? They have been used to set off bombs too. Such a ban would have an additional benefit on those of us who refrain from using phones in company, but have to endure incessant inane chatter from less considerate passengers. It is rather surprising in view of the sophisticated detectors in use today, even including whole-body scanners, that the security services appear to be unable to distinguish between a harmless device and one containing a bomb.

A silent portable device is very useful for passing the time on long journeys, and less bulky than books, or indeed newspapers. How are we expected to check-in in advance for the return journey without them? Not everyone has a smartphone: I have a very cheap and simple, not at all “smart”, mobile phone just for making calls - how old-fashioned! The lack of insurance cover for the devices when placed in the hold is a particular worry, when they are vulnerable to rough handling and a temptation to thieves. What sad times we live in. It will be no surprise that I use the train for international travel as much as possible.

Peter Grove Salisbury

We deserve another say on Brexit

Theresa May promised to “negotiate hard” for the best possible deal for Britain as we leave the European Union when it was announced that she will trigger the beginning of formal withdrawal talks on 29 March. “We are going to be out there, negotiating hard, delivering on what the British people voted for,” she said.

Well, at least over the next two years of negotiations, the British people will finally find out what they are going to get – as opposed to what they thought they voted for. And if what they will be getting is going to be painfully nothing like what they thought they'd voted for, then surely, in the name of all things decently democratic, they will have to have another say on the matter.

If not, it will be an affront to the democracy of this nation as a hard-right faction of the Tory Party take it upon themselves to interpret the referendum result as they see fit in their own ideological way. And who in their right mind voted for that?

John Haran Leigh-on-Sea, Essex