Both Donald Trump and Nigel Farage have colluded in denigrating life to the level of white and black and rich and poor.

Trump began his second term campaign with a call to send non-whites, non-Christians, and anybody else he decides is an undesirable back to from whence they came. I believe his encouragement of the crowd to chant, “send them back” at a recent rally merely serves to incite extremists giving them a free hand to kill and maim innocent people at will.

The blood on Trump’s hands will not wash off this time. He will not be exonerated by his party or the passage of time. He has turned America, once a great country, into a deeply divided, bigoted quagmire of seething hatred.

His cohort in Britain, Farage, has called his vile rhetoric “genius”. This statement was made before the recent murders in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, of at least 29 innocent Americans. I wonder if Farage feels the same now. Does his condoning of Trump’s views and actions seem so “genius” now?

Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Show all 21 1 /21 Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Several officers (top left and right) firing at Connor Betts (bottom left), who they identified as the gunman, seconds after he began killing people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Betts killed nine people including his sister, and injured 26 others. He was also shot dead at the scene by the responding officers Dayton Police Department/AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle with a 100-round double drum magazine which Connor Betts used Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Surveillance footage of people beginning to flee from the sound of gunshots fired by Connor Betts Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police officers move towards Connor Betts Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The vehicle which Connor Betts traveled to the scene in Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Bodies are removed from the scene of a mass shooting in Dayton AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The city's mayor, Nan Whaley, said the shooter was wearing body armour and used a ".223 high-capacity" gun during the assault. “In less than one minute, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter.” AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The FBI is assisting with the investigation Derek Myers/AFP/Getty Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar It was the second mass shooting in the US in less than 24 hours AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Witnesses comfort one another at the scene AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police tape drapes over a chair near a pile of shoes. The shooting took place in the popular bar and nightlife area, Oregon district Dayton Daily News via AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Dayton police look for evidence Dayton Daily News via AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Shoes piled outside the scene AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Residents comfort each other as they await word on whether they know any of the victims AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Authorities retrieve evidence markers AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers lay on the ground near a hotdog stand Reuters Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers rest on the ground after a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston BRYAN WOOLSTON Reuters Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar People fill the streets during a vigil EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners gather to recognise the victims Getty Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners leave flowers and candles at the entrance of Ned Peppers bar Getty

I wonder if Trump will feel as confident in reiterating the same rhetoric we’re used to at his next rally? Is he about to apologise to the sensible, caring Americans for his inflammatory mandate which only serves to divide the country and to give extremists licence to kill and maim at will?

The American people are being let down by a president who is incapable of having clear constructive thoughts. They’re also being failed by an administration that wants to fight and bully every country and organisation that disagrees with Trump’s plans.

To label Trump as, “the leader of the free world” is just nonsense. Neither he, nor America, could lead a thirsty man to water, let alone the globe. Just look at what a mess he is making trying to bring China to heel. Or pulling out of various climate agreements and Afghanistan. Utter short-sighted lunacy. The people that suffer the most are those he is trying to remove from America.

But, unfortunately, we have become used to his unscripted speeches and actions. It seems Trump and Farage are cast from the same mould and both should be ostracised by their respective countries. They have no place in the governance of countries or people’s futures.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

Why can’t those affected by mass shootings sue the manufacturer and suppliers of the weapons?

Paul Sheldon

Baildon

These are not normal times

Over the decades, moderates, centrists, left-of-centrists and even those further left have massively underestimated what the right will do to gain and keep power.

This is problematic enough in “normal” times. These are not normal times.

Decent folk have to stop being shocked at the behaviour of the extreme right wing and also stop doing politics as normal.

On this side of the pond the solution is obvious. The so-called opposition party needs to ditch possibly the worst leader in its history and everyone with a conscience needs to act as one against Steve Bannon-supported Boris Johnson and start making deals like the one that won the Brecon by-election last week.

In the US, the Democrats must stop party-politicking like it’s 1999 and get behind one candidate, even if it’s not their political wet dream.

The bodies from the two recent shootings can certainly be piled up on Trump’s moral lawn. However, if they don’t do what is needed to defeat him, Democrats must hang their heads in shame after 2020 while four, and possibly more, years of white nationalist terror, babies in cages and more, blight America’s history.

Amanda Baker

Edinburgh

Independent Minds Events: get involved in the news agenda

Cannabis must be decriminalised

I voted for Brexit, but I will be voting for the Liberal Democrats at the next election. Not because I want to stay in Europe, but because of their cannabis reform laws. I suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome, PTSD and chronic pain. Cannabis is the most effective medicine at stopping my tic-induced seizures, dealing with my pain and helping me sleep due to the PTSD.

It blows my mind that I am labelled a criminal for choosing my own healing methods. I have many friends who smoke cannabis and none of them are bad people and none of them deserve to be criminalised whether medically or recreationally.

Jimmy Finch

Address supplied

Just cancel Brexit

So, we’re stuck on how to proceed. Has everyone totally forgotten that a court decided we would be able to ask to cancel the whole thing at any time before the deadline? How about doing that, taking a few years to sort the mess out, then starting again.