Harry Maguire is right to press tech giants to bar vile trolls online — they must be named

Name the trolls

THE outpouring of love for Marcus Rashford shows the true nature of our nation.

Manchester is united, like the rest of Britain, behind England’s young black players after their Euros heartbreak and the hate they endured from racists.

Those morons and the have tarnished our image as the world’s most welcoming country.

But both cases involve a tiny, bovine hardcore, their thuggery amplified via instant broadcast to smartphones the world over.

We don’t blame social media firms for that. We do blame them for becoming safe spaces for often nameless ­hate-filled trolls. Twitter, especially, is a cesspit of ignorance. So we like Harry Maguire’s common sense today.

Social media, he says, allows players to interact with fans with unprecedented ease. But it also makes it far too easy for bigots to abuse them directly and without consequence.

So bar anonymous posters, says Harry. Force tech giants to verify every account and hand details to police if asked. Racists can then be arrested.

It won’t solve every ill. But it’s a start.

Killers in power

IN a parallel universe the Taliban peacefully share power and guide Afghanistan into a prosperous future. Sadly we do not live in that universe.

So the assertion by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that Britain would then treat these murderous fanatics like any other world government is a triumph of hope over experience.

2

They will come to power only by force. Like the cold-blooded execution of 22 Afghan troops after they surrendered.

Expect them then to overturn 20 years of transformed human rights. They may be a little less bloodthirsty than Islamic State . . . it’s hardly a recommendation.

The fact they have taken back half the country since we pulled out will break the hearts of Brits who served there — and the families of the 457 who died.

On the money

OUR MPs’ decision to trim the colossal aid budget has huge public support.

It was backed in a YouGov survey last year by most voters from all main parties — and by Remainers and Leavers.

2

Most read in Opinion

THE SUN SAYS

Labour's winter fuel U-turn is admission of how wrong-headed the policy was

ANUSHKA ASTHANA

Why PM made ‘disastrous’ winter fuel decision & who argued AGAINST reversal

ROD LIDDLE

Southport tweeter was treated like a sex offender - I know what Keir's game is

THE SUN SAYS

Labour’s migrants dishonesty only hardens voters' view MPs take them for mugs

Tory rebels and Labour argued that — even after the pandemic forced us to borrow £300billion and counting — we must borrow more to give away.

But far from every aid cause has merit. And the cut to 0.5 per cent of GDP still leaves us one of the world’s top donors.

Manifesto pledges to keep it at 0.7 per cent were made before a once-in-a-lifetime catastrophe changed everything.

We cannot saddle generations yet unborn with more debt and higher taxes to salve the consciences of MPs who enjoy being generous with other people’s money.