Brexit: One year on, the economic impact is starting to show
The Muslim BBC writer below sets out that some British businesses have had problems in recent years. He attributes that to the adjustments required by Brexit. He admits that the effects of the pandemic and the economically destructive government responses to it are "overwhelming" but goes on as if they did not exist
And in a familiar Leftist way, he totally ignores the question of where the balance lies. No doubt there have been problems resulting from Brexit but what about the benefits? He makes no attempt to tell us
Such a one-eyed article is not worth much so I reproduce below only the opening part of it
The business owners I spoke to have pretty much the same reflection on different aspects of the reality of one year of trading outside the Single Market and Customs Union. It's clearly been challenging: "Frustrating. Scary. Huge drop in sales. Rendered uncompetitive in Europe."
When I put to them what ministers have suggested privately - that some sections of British business need to be as prepared as the best-prepared bigger businesses, it got a little testy.
"I found it astounding that they are telling us to get used to it," said Adrian Hanrahan, of Robinson's chemicals, who is dealing with a new set of UK regulations entirely duplicating EU requirements.
A gift box distributor, Karen Lowen, says it's cheaper for her to supply the US and Australia than Europe.
Meanwhile, a manufacturer of cutting edge green radiators says the expansion of his factory in Birmingham will now take place in Poland. One participant's voice cracks as he tells me they are fighting to survive after a century-and-a-half in business.
A year on from the signing of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement - the real economic start of Brexit - we can start to see some of the changes in how Britain trades.
Despite the overwhelming influence of the lockdowns, and post-pandemic bounce back on all aspects of the economy, it is possible in the data and in the direct experience of hundreds of businesses, to see the impact of Brexit.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59761292
*****************************************They Tried To Sue Her For Not Working Same Sex Weddings, Then She Fought Back…
A lawsuit filed by an Elmira wedding photographer who refused to photograph same-sex marriages has been tossed out of court by a New York judge. But it doesn’t end there as the photographer plans to fight back.
A Christian photographer and blogger Emilee Carpenter based in the Southern Tier, sued the state in April, alleging that the state’s human rights law violated her First Amendment rights to free speech, free association, and free religious expression. She also said the law violated the establishment clause and her right to due process.
Carpenter said in a statement:
“The laws “substantially burden [her] sincerely held religious beliefs by requiring [her] to either operate [her] expressive business in a way that violates [s] [her] religious beliefs or to close [her] business.”
Carpenter said she would “not accept any projects… celebrating “anything immoral” or “dishonorable to God,” According to court documents.
This week, U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. dismissed Carpenter’s claims, noting that historically underserved, disfavored, or disadvantaged individuals are entitled to the same access to the public marketplace as afforded to everyone else. Additionally, Judge Geraci made clear in his decision that all businesses claiming to serve the public must serve all of the public, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Furthermore, the case does not specifically require the photographer to take pictures at same-sex wedding ceremonies, but instead dismissed the case for lacking a specific claim that could be granted relief.
However, an Arizona-based, Christian, nonprofit advocacy group, “The Alliance for Defending Freedom,” the organization representing Carpenter in the case, disagreed with the ruling.
ADF said in a statement:
“Even explaining on her company’s website which photographs and blogs she can create in good conscience based on her religious beliefs.”
The ADF noted:
“Penalties for violating the laws noted in the ruling could include a fine of up to $100,000, revocation of a business license, and up to one year in jail”
After receiving seven requests since March to create content celebrating same-sex weddings in New York, frustrated Carpenter decided to start the case, as it go beyond her belief.
Carpenter said when the lawsuit was announced in April:
“The state shouldn’t be able to silence or punish me for living out my convictions,” She said.
“I serve clients from all backgrounds, but the government is attempting to tell me what to do, what to say, and what to create based on its beliefs, not mine. Free speech protects everyone. Photographers and other artists should be able to choose the stories they tell,” she added.
Carpenter plans to appeal the decision
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The British Labour Party will never scent victory if it keeps up its toxic class war on hunting
By Baroness Mallalieu, a Labour peer
I use the present tense because despite the huge and disproportionate effort required to get the Hunting Act passed into law in 2004, many in my party remain obsessed with the pursuit of hunting at a huge cost to Labour’s standing in the countryside. The party went into the last election with a commitment to legislate on hunting again, as well as restricting game shooting. This week, Labour demanded an outlawing of trail hunting on public land.
When Labour won the 1997 and 2001 general elections, it boasted more than 100 rural MPs. It now holds just 17 of the 199 seats in England and Wales designated as rural. It is one thing being beaten in traditional Tory shires, quite another to see working class rural constituencies such as Penistone and Stocksbridge, Bishop Auckland and Sedgefield fall to the Conservatives, as they did in 2019.
Labour’s rural problem was starkly illustrated in the Cumbrian constituency of Workington, where Sue Hayman, then shadow Defra secretary, was defeated in a seat that Labour had won in every general election since the constituency was created in 1918. All of those constituencies have hunts and, while the South Durham and Cumberland Farmers might not boast the aristocratic pedigree of more famous packs, they have a loyal local following.
Why would any political party seek to woo an electorate where it has no competition?
This matters for Labour because there is no route to Downing Street that does not involve recapturing rural seats. This matters for rural communities, too, because at the moment they are being taken for granted by the Tories.
Never in my lifetime has the countryside been such a one-party state. Why would any political party seek to woo an electorate where it has no competition and wins almost unchallenged? Yet, as the recent North Shropshire by-election showed, the countryside is not blue by nature. It is quite willing to vote for any party which shares its priorities and aspirations.
To win in the countryside, Labour needs to engage with the rural electorate and focus on what matters to them, and not simply manipulate rural issues in the belief that it will appeal further to its increasingly urban base. Labour will not be taken seriously in the countryside until its priorities match those of people in rural constituencies.
Last month, when the Government’s Animal Welfare Bill was in the House of Commons, the Labour front bench moved a series of amendments which would have removed the exemption which allows packs of dogs, like other working dogs, to be off the lead when livestock are present, and would have required all “hunting dogs” to be licensed. This sort of petty politics is a million miles from addressing real animal welfare priorities, let alone reflecting the needs and concerns of the countryside.
Yet if Labour can get beyond the playground politics of “hunting, shooting and fishing” there is a huge opportunity for the party. There are fundamental issues including rural crime, access to public services, affordable housing, broadband and rural poverty, which desperately need addressing and which match exactly the priorities of the Labour Party. It needs to pursue policies relevant to the countryside and work with stakeholders who represent their interests.
If nothing changes, this continuing obsession will keep Labour out of office. It is impossible not to conclude that it would be of great advantage to both the party and the countryside if hunting were to be removed from the political agenda. Imagine if as much energy had been expended on issues that could really make a difference for rural communities.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/12/26/labour-will-never-scent-victory-keeps-hounding-hunt/
*********************************************Israel unveils $300m plan to double settlers in occupied Golan
Israel on Sunday announced a multi-million dollar plan to double the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights, in a move to entrench their control of the territory more than 50 years after they captured it from Syria.
Israel’s sovereignty of the Golan Heights - which it formally annexed in 1981, 14 years after its seizure in 1967 - has never been recognised by the international community.
In 2019 former US President Donald Trump became the first and only country to recognise Israel’s claim to the territory. Syria blasted it as a “flagrant violation” of their sovereignty.
“This is our moment. This is the moment of the Golan Heights,” Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett said at a special cabinet meeting in the area. "After long and static years in terms of the scope of settlement, our goal today is to double settlement in the Golan Heights."
The $317m (£237m) plan will significantly tip the demographic balance of the annexed land, which currently stands at around 25,000 Israeli settlers and 23,000 Druze families - a religious minority in the region - who remained after it was captured.
Mr Bennett on Sunday said that this recognition from Mr Trump, as well as President Biden’s indication that there would be no Middle East policy change, was an “important” factor in the decision to invest in the area.
Under the plans two new neighbourhoods will be created, as well as development programmes for construction, tourism, transportation and medical facilities. In 2019 a new town named “Trump Heights” was inaugurated.
"It goes without saying that the Golan Heights is Israeli," Mr Bennett said on Sunday.
The Right-wing prime minister maintained that entrenching Israeli control of the Golan Heights is necessary to protect itself from Iran and Syria.
“Just imagine what it would be like to battle Iran's attempt to use Syria as a military base, from which to attack Israel, if the Golan Heights were in Syrian hands,” Israeli deputy prime minister Gideon Sa’ar was reported as saying in the Jerusalem Post.
The plan - which was unanimously passed by the cabinet - aims to double the settler population by 2025.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See 
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