Why do we keep quiet about the noise around us?

Metro

22-04-2025

In MetroTalk: One reader says noisy protests and amplified buskers are music to no one's ears. (Picture: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Turn it down a notch
An activist known as Stop Brexit Man has been cleared of flouting a ban on playing music outside parliament (Metro, Apr 15).
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Steve Bray used to play the Muppet Show music and Darth Vader's theme through a loudspeaker as Rishi Sunak arrived for Prime Minister's Questions.
A good start in reducing noise as a public nuisance would be to not permit the use of any amplification in a public space, beyond a megaphone and a music instrument, without a special licence (which should be seldom given).
Our country has poor productivity and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to try to work in nearby offices when amplified, loud music is played, for example, in Trafalgar Square or Westminster Square.
At Tube stations, buskers play music with amplification and it is extraordinary the Mayor of London allows it. One can't always hear the station PA because of this noise and I'm concerned emergency announcements may not be heard clearly, endangering public safety.
One can only imagine that the deputy district judge who backed the activist is never affected by loud music in his court or office. Lester May, Camden Town
Was that really about the Pope?
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Sir Keir Starmer said Pope Francis – who died on Monday – was 'a Pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten' (Metro, Tue). Was he talking about the people of the UK, I wonder – ie pensioners and war veterans? Martin, South Croydon
It's not 'bouncing' anymore
Delia El-Hosayny, of Derby, the UK's first female bouncer thinks the profession should be renamed (Credits: Tom Maddick / SWNS)
In response to Delboy from Yorkshire (MetroTalk, Mar 24), who mocked the woman who described her job as an 'ejection technician' rather than 'club bouncer'.
I would have agreed with the derogatory word 'bouncer' 15 years ago but the ship that brought in the bouncers has since sailed.
Where are all the 'bouncers' in the supermarkets, stores and public spaces 'bouncing' out shoplifters and feral youths running amok?
What we have now been presented with over the past 18 years are 'security officers' trained to manage and reduce risks and conflicts, as opposed to 'bouncing' customers out of licensed premises. The reason or reasons why the majority of these door staff and security seem timid or risk-averse is another discussion entirely. Dee Folarin- Oshile, Lecturer In Security And Conflict
Senior citizens, not pensioners
Who wants to be defined by the fact they've reached pension age? (Credits: Getty Images)
I would just like to offer the view that we should not refer to people over the age of 66 as 'pensioners' but what we always used to call them – 'senior citizens'.
This is a far more dignified and appropriate title for a person who has lived a life and reflects the fact that they are far more than just someone in receipt of money from the government or a private pension fund.
I wonder how we dropped the original title in the first place? Trevor, Worthing
Put the ball in the right place
Are the referees tampering with the game? (Picture: Getty)
When are the football authorities going to stop this ridiculous behaviour of placing the ball outside the quarter circle when players are taking a corner kick?
The number of goals scored from the ball being in the wrong position is disgraceful, including Aberdeen's first goal in Saturday's Scottish cup semi-final. Allan Somerville, Bonnyrigg
Scooters aren't toys
Are we now selling scooters to children? On an evening shopping trip in a London suburb I was horrified to encounter a lad of about ten speedily riding along the pavement complete with a bright front light.
It seems that those born since the turn of the century have 'speed in the blood', perhaps because they have spent their earlier childhood being ferried around in cars.
It explains how some of them regard the pavements as their natural right of way, regardless of other users. And of course there is never a policeman around. Antony Porter, London
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