Member Info for mick-b

HH88

Either you or BLUE were complaining about construction workers being affected by the recent rise in Employers NI. But is was BREXIT that decimated the construction industry. Which I thought was obvious from my post.

With estimates at the time that in some parts of London’s construction sector as many as half of workers might be from the EU, there were serious fears about what a leave vote could mean for an industry already facing a skills shortage.

Six years on, there has been a clear change in the number of EU nationals working in UK construction: the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports a 42% fall between 2017 and the end of 2020. The industry had 176,000 EU-born workers in the third quarter of 2019, but just a year later this had plummeted to 127,000. The exodus of EU-born workers has been greatest in London, where the decline was 30%, from 76,000 to 53,000 in the course of that year.

A US official tells BBC's US partner CBS, that "Damascus is falling suburb by suburb" to the rebels

The Syrian presidency deny reports that President Bashar al-Assad has left Damascus

Meanwhile, rebels have entered the key city of Homs, according to reports

The Syrian interior minister says there is a "very strong military cordon" around the capital that he claims no one will be able to get through, AFP reports

BEEB

I remember watching the fire on tv, with commentators saying it would never be restored fully within the next 50 years…but they did it in five! 💜

47,000 French living in the States contributed 57m.....total cost near 1B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQe4bi5PW1Y

United States President-elect Donald Trump arrived at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. He is in Paris to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, with this marking his first overseas trip since winning the US presidential election in November. The two also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and are expected to meet British Prince William before the cathedral reopening ceremony.

Baha Breaking News (BBN) / NL

You have Chickens?

There is foxes everywhere they come into my Garden in broad daylight every day. My cats run inside. Which is silly as foxes fear cats as well.

EVIKING

Once a TRUMP tariff war begins the dollar will drop and US inflation will increase so the DOW will probably drop. ( v good for gold)

Under Biden the growth in the US economy was the highest of major economies. India was highest but not a major economy yet. But democrats lost because the cost of living was so high.

Most care most about the prices of their food/petrol etc..

Do you mean

General Wesley K. Clark, (ret.)

or

Wes Clark Ret. 4-star general, former NATO SACEUR

If they promise to rejoin the EU, that many millions wish.

Only the Lib dems have promised to do so. So it could be a coalition of the two.

TROAJAN

Dictatorships don't care for life, but not too sure that refuges are deliberately created for the West. They are definitely created by their acts of civilian genicide.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday voiced his hope that Syria's opposition rebels will be able to move forward without "hardships." "As of now, Idlib, Hama, Homs and the target is of course Damascus," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul. "I will say that our wish is that this march in Syria continue without any accidents or hardship," he added. The Turkish head of state further mentioned that Turkish officials called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss the situation in Syria and its future, but did not get a positive response from him. Previously, a rebel group in Southern Syria claimed that it captured a major government military base in Daraa province, as well as government posts along the Jordanian-Syrian border.

Baha Breaking News (BBN) / JJ

Assad family now in Moscow...reports say.

Turkey is playing a major part in all of this.

A plane was unable to land in UK ending up landing in Frankfurt. Bet the passengers were thrilled.

source Simon Calder...the travel man.

Once in a while, issues that Byline Times focuses on – when no-one else has – bubble up, and come to dominate the headlines. Often, it feels like it’s too late.

But there is still time for Labour to do something to fix the leaky colander that is Britain’s dangerously-outdated election laws. Just.

Ministers may be jolted into action by reports this week suggesting that Elon Musk could donate a staggering £79 million to Nigel Farage's Reform Party. The figure is almost the total amount of cash handed to all UK parties last year.

It could completely transform politics – an oligarch’s bid to tilt the scales further against progressive policies. And it would put the hard-right’s culture wars on steroids.

The Guardian soon reported that ministers were considering a donation cap of £100,000. But we understand that this is not currently on the table.

What is being considered, we report today, is action to close the loopholes that allow foreign actors – like egotistical crypto-bros – to fund UK parties from abroad.

Elon Musk invested $100 million to help get Donald Trump elected in the US. It paid off, with Tesla and crypto stock booming on the Republican’s win. And now it seems Musk has set his sights on the UK.

He's claimed "civil war is inevitable" here, and appears more than happy to stoke it. And he's called Britain a "tyrannical police state" under Labour. He wasn't so outspoken about the Conservatives' raft of anti-protest laws that have seen hundreds of peaceful campaigners jailed.

A $100m bung here, a secret donation to ideologically-crazed think tanks there. What's to prevent other self-serving billionaires following suit?

The Labour Party manifesto this year pledged to 'protect democracy by strengthening the rules around donations to political parties.'

They’d better start putting their money where their mouth is – or others will.

On a related note, have you followed us on Bluesky yet?...

It does look at long last the ASSAD regime will fall. He will probably skip off to mother Russia.

His father who he inherited the regime must be turning in his grave.

Their biggest problem is a shortage of troops.

They have some Foreign troops and Russians that have defected, but it doesn't amount to that many.

6 December 2024, 09:56 GMT

2605 Comments

Updated 16 minutes ago

Around three million people in parts of Wales and south-west England have been sent an emergency alert from the government as Storm Darragh approaches the UK.

It is the largest use of the warning system yet and has been sent to the mobile phones of people in areas covered by the Met Office red weather warning for the storm.

The alert made a loud siren-like sound when it was delivered to devices, even if they were set on silent, and lasted for around 10 seconds.

The Met Office issued a rare red warning - the most serious type - earlier on Friday for wind. It is in place from 03:00 to 11:00 GMT on Saturday.

The Met Office only issues red warnings when meteorologists believe that dangerous, potentially life-threatening weather is expected imminently.

Western and southern coastal regions of Wales, as well as the Bristol Channel including parts of Bristol and Cardiff are all covered by the warning.

The areas are forecast wind gusts of 90mph (144kmph) or more, the Met Office said.

The government alert was sent to every compatible mobile phone in impacted areas, containing information about the warning and guidance on how to stay safe into Saturday.

It said Storm Darragh was expected to cause "significant disruption", warning that strong winds can cause flying debris, falling trees and large waves, "all of which can present a danger to life".

6 December 2024, 16:09 GMT

Updated 3 hours ago

TikTok's bid to overturn a law which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025 has been rejected.

The social media company had hoped a federal appeals court would agree with its argument that the law was unconstitutional because it represented a "staggering" impact on the free speech of its 170 million US users.

But the court upheld the law, which it said "was the culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and by successive presidents".

TikTok says it will now take its fight to the US Supreme Court, the country's highest legal authority.

The US wants TikTok sold or banned because of what it says are its owners links to the Chinese state - links TikTok and parent company Bytedance have always denied.

The court agreed the law was "carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary, and it was part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed by the PRC (People's Republic of China)."

BEEB

Alastair Campbell roasting a rattled Nigel Farage.🔥

“You are somebody who will exploit any problem going for your own political ends. Brexit was a fundamentally damaging thing to this country. That is your one legacy and you now don’t even want to talk about it.”

#bbcqt

https://x.com/EddieBurfi/status/1864784623076540589

"Migrants, illegal or legal, weren't responsible for austerity. That was the Conservative government. Migrants were not responsible for Brexit. Migrants were not responsible for Liz Truss' failure of leadership."

Brilliant audience contribution 👏

https://x.com/AdamJSchwarz/status/1864787444949831918