US imposed a 50% tariff on Lesotho, whose average citizen earns less than $5 a day. Why? Because the formula for supposedly "reciprocal" tariff rates has nothing to do with tariffs. The Trump team have calculated each penalty by dividing the U.S. trade deficit with a given country by how much the U.S. imports from it and then doing a rough adjustment. Because Lesothơ's ppl are too poor to afford most U.S. exports, while the U.S. imports $237 million in diamonds and other goods from the nation, they have reserved the highest- possible tariff rate for one of the world's poorest places. The idea that taxing Lesotho gemstones is necessary for the U.S. to add steel jobs in Ohio is absurd 1

Trump’s whopping great tariffs on the tiny African nation of Lesotho sum up the full madness of the scheme.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Voting for LexisNexis Legal Personality of the Year closes at 5pm tomorrow! Please consider voting for our founder Stephen Kinsella.

surveymonkey.com/r/PPMXG3F

🗳️ Voting Now Open 🗳️

You can now vote for our founder @stephenstroud.bsky.social in the Lexis Nexis Legal Personality of the Year Award. It’s excellent to see Law for Change mentioned amongst an incredible list of nominees.

www.surveymonkey.com/r/PPMXG3F

🚨BIG NEWS🚨

We are thrilled to announce that our founder @stephenstroud.bsky.social has been shortlisted for the @lexisnexisuk.bsky.social Legal Personality of the Year Award 2025.
 
AND the landmark Supreme Court fracking case we backed has also been shortlisted for case of the yr!

We back environmental cases with impact.

From our Supreme Court win on fracking to this important fossil fuels challenge in NI.

This is significant not only for Larne Lough but for energy security & climate protection across the UK.

@stephenstroud.bsky.social

feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/article...

❄️As 2024 comes to an end, we want to take a moment to reflect on our work and say thank you to everyone who has supported us.

Here’s an update on what we’ve achieved this year, and roll on 2025!

@stephenstroud.bsky.social

Out of the shadows: MI6 Russia expert Christopher Steele on Trump and the new world order | Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell

Christopher Steele stepped out of the shadows to talk about the Trump victory. You won’t want to miss this.

shows.acast.com/65196b0b1488...?

Interesting, I hadn’t understood the power attached to the role. Thank you!

Can we now expect Emily Thornberry to replace her given her prior experience and having previously missed out on a a cabinet role?

Petition: Ensure all the press is regulated by a Press Recognition Panel approved body We think this would provide justice for victims of lies or intrusion by newspapers, and deliver a trustworthy and accountable press that the British people deserve. The press could help create new app...

To protect victims of false reporting and ensure a trustworthy press, we need independent regulation. 📰 Support the call for all newspapers to be governed by a Leveson-approved body. Sign the petition now: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70... #PressRegulation #Accountability

Re assisted dying bill, disappointing to see SkyNews airing the argument that God should be the one who chooses when you die. It is of course still completely possible if the bill passes for an individual to make that choice.

There is really good debate to be had on this issue, but that is not it.

He is!

bsky.app/profile/dann...

Last week Donald Trump began the process of appointing the members of his administration. Here's what you need to know about his picks so far… 👇🧵1/

If you bring central London to a halt in order to campaign against catastrophic climate change then you're a "barmy" eco "fanatic" who deserves to be locked up.

If you do the same to hang on to your multimillion pound inheritance tax exemption then you're a brave freedom fighter defying the odds

I’ve watched the video, in no part of Baroness Mallalieu’s statement does she contradict the thread I’ve shared. Could you explain why it’s wrong?

I’m happy to be corrected but sharing a video that doesn’t address the thread isn’t sufficient.

I found this thread useful: bsky.app/profile/dann...

Really great thread explaining why the coverage of agricultural property relief has been blown way out of proportion.

Sander van der Linden (@profsander.vanderlinden) on Threads New computational analyses from the University of Queensland on algorithmic bias suggest that the X algorithm substantially boosted Republican accounts right after Elon Musk's endorsement of Donald Tr...

There is now some hard evidence that X boosted the Trump campaign and suppressed the Harris campaign. What's to stop Musk from doing the same in other countries?
www.threads.net/@profsander....

Just don’t understand why Starmer is deliberately impoverishing our country by clinging on to unpopular and discredited Tory ideology.

I’d also be interested to see stats on JCB’s recent involvement with Labour.

Every single room at the Labour Party conference hotel was given a JCB goody bag, including a single use screen showing their latest promotional material.

That's really interesting thank you! I had read that BlueSky had followed Mastodon on this but clearly not. I will delete the thread to ensure no confusion.

I do hope this gets off the roadmap sooner rather than later.