Joe Mulhall looks at the question of what makes people so susceptible to misinformation (Some are calling these far-right riots an outpouring of legitimate anger. They are not, 5 August). He blames social media, and also blames Suella Braverman for demonising asylum seekers by using such language as “invasion”. Yet he himself uses similar language about the rioters: “horde”, “mob”, “infection”.
How can social cohesion be achieved while even on the Guardian letters page (5 August) I read language such as “neo-Nazi scum”? The prime minister and the home secretary call the rioters “thugs”. There is also pressure to call them “terrorists”. This name-calling does not help. It is aggressive. It divides us even further. Instead, we could find answers to what makes people so angry and violent by looking at what they have to lose: nothing. They have nothing now after 14 years of Tory misrule and deprivation, but throwing bricks is not a solution to their resentment. A close look at our own attitude as betrayed in our language might be.
Eleanor Creed
Portsmouth
