Our fellow passengers and dogs continue to annoy us, with fresh gripes emerging today.

The dogs indoors debate rages, but one reader wants the government to step in and reintroduce the dog licence which was ditched in most of the UK in 1988. Could the money collected from all those dog lovers help the economy as a whole?

On public transport, someone is less than impressed with those that lean on the poles and rails of packed Tubes.

Read on to find out what Metro readers are thinking.

■ I read M Reader’s opinion (MetroTalk, Tue) on dogs, saying they don’t need to be in shops, pubs and cafés unless they’re guide dogs. I have an assistance dog who by law is allowed entrance into anywhere public.

I have been pushed out of shops and harassed by shoppers and staff, yet my dog has a harness that shows he is my assistance dog. He went through the accreditation process to become one.

If I don’t have my dog with me, I could collapse without warning anywhere. With my dog, I get a warning of 30 to 60 seconds, meaning I can try to get into a safe place or position. He doesn’t actually stop my collapses but he does help to bring me round afterwards. Chrissy (and Jack), Huddersfield

■ In response to Sharon (MetroTalk, Wed) who says well-behaved dogs should be allowed in shops and that she sees children ‘screaming, throwing tantrums and dropping chocolate on the floor’. Dogs are for the home and for parks, not shops and restaurants.

My former partner insisted on taking her dog to the pub with us on Sundays. When the food was being delivered to other tables, the dog would bark like mad, upsetting everyone.

As for children, we can’t survive without them. Dogs we can! John, by email

■ It’s about time dog licences were reintroduced at a reasonable rate, such as £500 per year. After all, we have to buy a licence for a TV, which does not poo everywhere or carry filthy germs.

The extra money from said licences would help the economy recover. Alan Moore, North Weald

■ M Reader doesn’t want dogs in pubs, shops or on buses. A huge percentage of the population have dogs and love them dearly (as much as family). To say there’s no need to take dogs to these places is verging on the ridiculous. Phil Murphy, by email

■ M Reader could reflect on the fact that for many people their dog is the only comfort in their life. Bunty Cox, Warwickshire

■ Can fellow commuters please stop leaning against the vertical handrails and poles on the Tube? It’s really selfish, especially when the train is packed, as it is on the Central line in the morning.

Shorter people such as myself struggle to hold on to the higher handrails that run parallel to the ceiling, so the vertical ones should be kept free for those who need them.

Sometimes when I try to hold a vertical handrail, someone is leaning against it but they won’t move, so they lean on my hand while I hold the rail.

Please be more considerate and move over if you can see someone trying to hold on. Lauren, London

■ Mandy (MetroTalk, Fri) criticises passengers for repeatedly pressing the bell on buses. Just so you know, the new bells on Arriva buses are so stiff they ring twice, whether you like it or not. Lizzie, Manchester

■ Marl of Doncaster (MetroTalk, Wed) asks why this country is ‘never prepared for snow and winter conditions’. The reason is most councils are not willing to buy and maintain the gritters and equipment needed for the few days they are needed – only to sit idle for the rest of the year.

In other words, would you buy and maintain a car you would use for only four to six weeks a year? That’s the real problem here. Geoff Hall, Croydon

■ Just to put the record straight, the photo on the front page of Wednesday’s Metro about rail strikes is a red herring.

The trains photographed in the sidings at Ely, Cambridgeshire, have been withdrawn from public service for quite some time. They are purely there in store and, in all probability, the next time their wheels move will be when they are getting dragged to the scrapyards for cutting up! I Robertson, Hailsham

Strikes only hurt the travelling public

■ The RMT union boss Mick Lynch is holding the British public to ransom with his threats to paralyse the rail network for another six months (Metro, Wed).

His sole aim is not to get better pay and conditions for rail workers, but to try to overthrow the government, while frustrating the travelling public by doing so. Scott, West London

■ Why are the unions punishing us, the workers? We are not to blame. Richard, Windsor

Bills help is off target

■ I received my EDF quarterly electricity bill this week. I live with my wife in a very small one-bedroom flat in Olympia and was expecting to pay about double our usual charge of £110.

Instead, I was astonished to see that because of the UK government subsidy, I had nothing to pay at all – and in fact EDF owed me £10.

So, electricity for me for free for the first time in my entire life. I’m far from poor, I don’t need the subsidy and I wonder why the UK government didn’t decide to target its help far more sharply.

There are families all around me with two or three children who need to heat three or four rooms. Why couldn’t my unneeded handout have been more intelligently directed? S, by email

All jokes aside, what’s going to happen in 2023?

A message to all you future-gazers out there. As you may well know, the first MetroTalk of 2023 will be given over to your thoughts and predictions for the year ahead. Even your fears.

We’ve had some submissions already that take in shopping habits, coping mechanisms and even a terrible joke. More of the last, please.

But what about the economy, the NHS, these ongoing strikes? How will these pan out? And looking further afield – how will our relationship with China develop? With Russia?

Help kick-start the debate and send in your thoughts to the address at the top of the page. We look forward to reading them. And not just the jokes.

Start a text with VIEWS followed by your comment, name and where you live to 65700. Standard network charge applies. Or email [email protected]. Helpline for Views: 020 3615 0600. Full T&Cs on metro.co.uk/terms. Metro is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Comments may be edited for reasons of legality, clarity or space.

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