Latest news with #StatueofLiberty
Spectator
8 hours ago
- Business
- Spectator
Britain can't afford to let migrants live on benefits
When the history of the next election comes to be written, we may end up asking: was the turning point for its outcome the moment that Keir Starmer's government backtracked on its welfare reforms in the face of a backbench revolt? The fiasco, which eliminated the government's hopes of saving £5 billion a year, has made any welfare reform during the current Parliament impossible. The cost of that is becoming more evident by the day. Figures revealed this morning show that there are currently 3.6 million people receiving Universal Credit who are under no obligation whatsoever to look for work. They have been effectively written off as unemployable and will be in receipt of benefits for the remainder of their working-age lives. That is nearly half the total of 7.9 million people on Universal Credit. What's more, 1.26 million claimants of Universal Credit are non-UK citizens. It is hard to imagine a more powerful form of recruitment for Reform UK. As Nigel Farage put it this morning, 'These figures go completely against the lie we have been told for 25 years that all immigration is positive because they work and contribute to society.' Britain, to use a phrase that is steadily gaining political traction, has become the benefits office of the world. The case for mass migration relies on the assertion that it is helping to staff our hospitals, care homes and other places of employment which are desperately short of staff. There is a lot of truth in this, although it is undermined by today's figures. There is also the idealist Statue of Liberty argument: the idea that the rest of the world is sending us its huddled masses who, given a chance, will turn out to be full of entrepreneurs who will found and build new businesses. It is a lovely idea. The trouble is that 2020s Britain is not 1880s America – the decade in which the Statue of Liberty was built. The big difference is that modern Britain incorporates a huge welfare state, and a non-contributory one at that. You don't have to build up entitlements to benefits over a number of years – you can arrive in Britain one day and be in receipt of benefits the next. This was the issue, indeed, on which David Cameron's pre-referendum negotiations to reset Britain's relations with the EU fell down. The EU refused to compromise on free movement, beyond a few token gestures, and David Cameron refused to countenance the wholesale redesign of Britain's benefits system to make it harder for migrants to claim benefits. The result was that Britain voted for Brexit, partly in the expectation that migration would be slashed. But it didn't happen. On the contrary, migration surged. What's more, the move to Universal Credit has fuelled the growth in the number of people who are paid out-of-work benefits but are not required to look for work. The pandemic played a role in this, in that it meant fewer Work Capability Assessments were carried out face-to-face. Yet the growth in people not required to look for work began a couple of years before Covid, and has continued to grow ever since. Labour's failure to reform welfare ought to benefit the Conservatives, yet Universal Credit was very much their baby. Moreover, it was under their government that migration as well as the number of people on out-of-work benefits began to surge. That is a very big problem for them. Reform UK, on the other hand, has no baggage such as failed welfare policy. No country with a benefits system as generous and as extensive as Britain's can afford an open borders policy; that much should be obvious. A country of 34 million workers cannot support the virtually limitless numbers of people around the globe who could potentially claim UK benefits. Just as the Leave campaign won the Brexit referendum on the back of a few simple messages, Reform UK is more than capable of winning the next election by continuing to drum into the public that Britain's benefits system, and in particular the number of migrants who are living off it, is unsustainbale.
The Wire
a day ago
- Politics
- The Wire
American Institutions, From Law Firms to Universities, Are Under Siege
In 2020, Donald Trump's hardcore supporters mounted the first full-fledged attack on the US republic at his behest—the attempt to overthrow the result of the presidential election. In 2024, that very system has, by re-electing him, enabled him to launch what could be the final assault. In six months alone, Trump has, according to the economic commentator Martin Wolf, 'made huge strides in his war on everything that has made the US successful.' Institutions are under siege all around, from law firms to universities. Departments like the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been empowered and are acting like a secret police. The signs of erosion of the US system are also all around. It began with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which was supposed to streamline bureaucracy and modernise government. Its real aim was to cow down bureaucracy. This was done through dramatic halving of the staff of the department of education and the elimination of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Another agency that saw steep cuts was the Environment Protection Agency. The broad policy adopted was to hire just one person and fire four. Coinciding with this was the firing of 18 inspectors general who are tasked with oversight over various government departments and the disbanding of the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section. Immigration A characteristic feature of the US was that it was a country of immigrants whose symbol was the Statue of Liberty, which welcomed immigrants from around the world. Today, the short-sighted crackdown on migrants risks significant negative economic and social impact on the US. Estimates are that in 2023 some 31 million immigrants comprised nearly 19% of the US civilian workforce, with higher labour force participation than the native born workers. They comprise 14 % of construction and healthcare workers, 50 % of agriculture workers and a significant percentage of those in the hospitality sector. Mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, estimated at 11 million will significantly impact US GDP, increase inflation and cause labour shortages in critical sectors. As it is, the current crackdown has reduced net immigration significantly. Restrictions on legal immigration (restricting H1B or student visas) will have its own impact. Immigrants also drive innovation where over half of US billion dollar startups have immigrant founders. Actually high-skilled immigration actually boost productivity and wages for native workers. Tariffs On the foreign front, the trade war is not over. After pushing 'Liberation Day' tariffs till August 1, Trump has posted letters threatening the EU and Mexico with 30 % tariffs and Japan and South Korea with 25% each. He has threatened Brazil with a 50% rate if it does not end the trial of former President Jair Bolsanaro and has threatened the US northern neighbor Canada with a 35% rate. Trump now says that he is planning tariffs on other nations at 20% double the rate he had proposed in April. Deals have been reached with just a handful of partners. With his confidence restored after the US markets have stabilized and the US economy appearing sound, he is back to an aggressive mode. Trump has boasted as to how tariffs have boosted US revenues, but they have also raised costs for American consumers and businesses as importers pass on the added expense. In other words, they are a tax on Americans that hit the lower income households the most. Theoretically, the tariffs can protect domestic industries and jobs, but since the US has not yet, as per Trump's desire, become a manufacturing powerhouse their impact remains negative. They will in the short-run trigger inflation and promote export loss through retaliation. High tariffs will create supply chain chaos as they will raise costs for industries reliant on imported parts. High tariffs for example could make critical components for semiconductors or lab instruments could affect research institutions. High tariffs, along with administrative actions like funding cuts and restrictive policies could severely affect US scientific institutions by increasing costs, reducing resources and pushing talent abroad. This could be accompanied by economic ripple effects such as job losses, reduced innovation affecting US global competitiveness. Corruption Some of Trump's actions may border on allowing alleged corrupt practices. It is no coincidence that he has paused the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) through EO14209 of February 10, 2025 on grounds that its 'overexpansion and unpredictable enforcement harms US national security by creating an uneven playing field for American companies. Looked at another way, this opens the way for US companies to indulge in bribery that could benefit Trump companies that are operating internationally in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Vietnam and elsewhere. Trump's own conduct as President has been questionable. This includes the pausing of the FCPA, as well as profiting from cryptocurrency ventures, accepting a $ 400 million jet from Qatar. Three days before his inauguration as President, on January 17, 2025, Trump launched a cryptocurrency memecoin, '$TRUMP' of which he owns 80 % whose valuation rose to $5 billion in hours. Two days later the $MELANIA memecoin was issued. In April 2025, the top 20 holders of the coin were offered dinner with the President with the top 25 getting a special VIP White House tour. This boosted the value of the coin further as buyers spent $140 million to bag an invite. Trump companies make money on trading activities of the memecoin and estimates say they have so far made around $ 400 million. The Qatar gift of the $400 million Boeing 747 coincided with a $5.5 billion Trump Organisation golf resort project in Qatar funded by a state owned Qatari firm. In April days after the Pahalgam attack Pakistan partnered with World Liberty Financial (WLF) a company which is 60 per cent owned by President Trump's sons and son-in-law to develop its own crypto currency through a newly formed Crypto Council. Educational and scientific institutions An even more important assault has been on the US educational and scientific establishment. As is well known the US educational system is perhaps the most prized asset of the country which has made the country what it is today. The relationship between Universities and government goes back to the 19th century when land grants were made to promote science and agriculture. As of 2021, the government gave anywhere up to $ 180 billion to universities and colleges for a variety of projects. The institutions attract the best and the brightest from across the world, many of whom stay behind and contribute to America's growth. Trump efforts have included the banning of foreign students from entering the US to attend Harvard. The university has nearly 7,000 international students constituting 25 % of its student body. More than 1.1 million, many from India make up the international students enrolled in US colleges and universities. Besides talent, they also act as a financial life-line for the institutions. As of this year, the government has cancelled about $ 11 billion worth of University research funding. The Administration cut $400 million in federal funding to get Columbia University to accept its diktat on issues like anti-semitism, reviewing academic programmes such as Middle-eastern Studies and hiring campus police. Harvard has temporary court injunctions against the Trump Administration's cancelling of $ 9 billion in federal funding and contracts. Billions in research grants have been canceled or frozen across institutions like John Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania and others. Over 60 universities are being investigated on charges of anti-semitism and face potential fund cuts. The administration has slashed grants for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Over 400 NSF grants on subjects like cancer, diabetes and AI have been cut. The future Since World War II, the United States has been the greatest power on earth. Since the end of World War II it not only led the process of globalisation by pushing for the creation of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and helping give shape to the World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency and helping shape the international order through the Geneva Conventions, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Paris Agreement on climate control. The US rise was also marked by a slow but distinct trend towards self-improvement. It fought a Civil War to end slavery, and then in the mid-1990s, it saw a Civil Rights movement to empower the deprived Black Americans. It also played a significant role in shaping international treaties and frameworks to promote women's rights. But all that seems to be a distant memory now as Trump's America seeks to undo domestic advances on the rights of the Blacks, women and LGBTQ people, trash the advances made in the global trading regime and in fighting climate change. It seems determined to self-harm by attacking its own vaunted universities and research institutions, as well as its government system which has served it so well. Perhaps the most pernicious assault is on the immigration system which has been tantamount to a foundational principle of the republic. Next year is the 250th anniversary of the Republic, and it would be interesting to see how the pluses and minuses of the US as a nation add up. Manoj Joshi is a distinguished fellow with the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi. click here.
Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Viral ‘Clean Statue of Liberty' movement gains momentum amid severe floods in New York and New Jersey
As New York and New Jersey rise from severe flash floods that filled highways and neighborhoods this week, a new wave of activism has swept social media : the 'Clean Statue of Liberty' movement. Sparked by images of the iconic monument's weathered and yellowing exterior, thousands of Americans are calling for a comprehensive cleaning and restoration of Lady Liberty ahead of the nation's 250th Independence Day celebrations next year. The movement, whose origins remain unclear, exploded online Monday as dramatic floodwaters swept through the region. Influencers and everyday citizens alike began sharing before-and-after images of the statue, highlighting the gradual discoloration of its copper patina. 'There is a movement to clean the Statue of Liberty next year for America's 250th anniversary,' one user posted on X (formerly Twitter), echoing the sentiment of many demanding action from city and federal officials. Advocates are not just asking for a cosmetic touch-up. Many are urging authorities to address graffiti, restore the statue's original luster, and upgrade Liberty Island's infrastructure to withstand increasingly frequent climate-driven storms. A petition, which began circulating in 2022, has gained renewed traction. It reads, in part: by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Sua loja virtual pode ser o sucesso que você sempre sonhou: saiba como começar agora. Tray Saiba Mais Undo 'The Statue of Liberty is a monumental piece of American history, symbolizing our heritage and human rights as citizens of this great nation. We must restore this piece of art to its former and original, respective glory, as a sign of hope, peace, and pursuit of happiness during these dark times'. The last major restoration of the Statue of Liberty occurred in the mid-1980s, when the monument underwent a massive overhaul in preparation for its centennial. That project included extensive cleaning of both the interior and exterior copper, repairs to the iron framework, and the replacement of the original torch. Since then, only routine maintenance has been performed, leaving many to argue that the statue is overdue for another significant restoration—especially as climate change brings harsher weather to the region. Live Events
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘Clean Statue of Liberty' movement goes viral as New Jersey and New York experience severe flash floods
As New Jersey and New York were struck with severe flash floods on Monday, a viral 'Clean Statue of Liberty' movement emerged. Several social media users urged the city and federal government to clean the iconic monument before America's 250th Independence Day next year. We do not know who started the movement, but influencers are posting a timeline of the Statue of Liberty showing the yellowing of the monument. A Clean Statue of Liberty movement emerged on Monday(REUTERS) 'Clean Statue of Liberty' movement 'There is a movement to clean the statue of liberty next year for America's 250th anniversary,' one person wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. Read More: New Jersey state of emergency: NJ Turnpike completely flooded; scary scenes at New Providence 'Trump should clean the Statue of Liberty to celebrate America's 250th birthday. Internet. Do your thing and make this happen!' another person tweeted. Advocates further demanded cleaning the statue's copper patina, removing graffiti, and upgrading Liberty Island's infrastructure to withstand climate-driven storms. A petition on was launched in 2022. 'The Statue of Liberty is a Monumental piece of American history, symbolizing our heritage and human rights as citizens of this Great Nation. We as the people must restore this piece of art to its former and original, respective glory, as a sign of hope, peace and pursuit of happiness during these dark times." "Many of us have families who came through Ellis Island and the rest of the world deserves to see the beascon of hope as it once stood, in its Glory, in order to understand the sentimental value that its beauty brought to the shore of a land that was symbolic of a fresh start for those persecuted by exiled and impoverished.. Please stand with me in getting this statue clean, just as we mist cleanse America of the struggles that many people face everyday in these trying times,' it stated.
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Trump wants to deport migrants to South Sudan
When I saw the news a few weeks ago that President Donald Trump's administration was trying to deport eight men to South Sudan, I was shocked. I had worked and lived in South Sudan as a diplomat and know the country well. It is on the brink of yet another civil war, and its government has a horrific human rights record. America's own travel warning for the country, updated most recently this March, is Level 4: Do Not Travel. The United States evacuated its nonemergency staff from the embassy earlier this year due to ongoing armed conflict and high levels of violent crime. It advised any Americans who choose to travel there anyway to draft a will, establish a proof of life protocol with loved ones in case they're taken hostage and prepare their family to manage their affairs in the case of their death. These are not warnings the US government issues lightly. Of nearly 200 countries on earth, why choose this as a deportation destination? Only one of the men deported there is from the country. The others have no ties to South Sudan whatsoever — rather, they come from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba and Mexico. None of those are even on the African continent. This puts most of the men on a far, difficult and expensive journey away from anywhere they know. The only purpose would be to punish these individuals and to instill fear in any others considering migrating to the United States. The Statue of Liberty's promise has been turned on its head. South Sudan is one of several countries where this administration seeks to deport migrants, regardless of country of origin. This includes El Salvador, where hundreds have been detained in a notorious prison, but the Trump administration is also considering war-torn Libya, corrupt Equatorial Guinea and authoritarian Rwanda, to name a few. As someone who has worked in South Sudan, I can speak to what migrants could face there specifically, and it isn't pretty. I wrote our annual human rights report on the country and was responsible for assisting American citizens there in need. This means I have documented the detention and prison conditions, the government-perpetrated violence and the futility of its justice system. It also means I worked to help US citizens caught up in it — often detained unlawfully and stuck for weeks or longer in prisons with horrific conditions, usually sick, and with no recourse until they typically bribed their way out. For a place with few comforts to offer, conflict and corruption have also made South Sudan incredibly expensive. Someone without a network for support or any knowledge of the country will only be that much worse off. Neither the US nor the South Sudanese government has indicated what fate awaits these men in the capital city, Juba: Will they be detained or released and what then? Will they have any help securing onward travel? Will they have contact with their families? Will they be able to work to earn enough to support themselves or to earn a ticket out? What conditions — if any — did the US government negotiate for their presence? South Sudan's government is violent, unaccountable and corrupt, so I wouldn't put much faith in its commitments anyway. It also needs money, and I expect that's what it got in return. In April, the US government revoked all South Sudanese visas as punishment for the country after its government refused to accept a deportee who was in fact from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cooperating probably has more appeal now. Unlike most migrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this year, these eight men are indeed convicted criminals, though many had either finished or were soon to finish serving their sentences. Being sent to an unfamiliar war zone far from their countries of origin, families or communities must feel like another criminal sentence. How and why did this happen? The due process rights of all people — not just citizens — in the United States have been well established by now. The Supreme Court ruled as recently as this May that deportees must be given a proper chance to raise legal objections to their removal to a third country. But, in the case at hand, weeks of legal battles over that right ended in July with the Supreme Court ruling that these deportations could go ahead anyway. Their case has been met with curiosity but little outrage. Perhaps it's because only a few people were affected. Or the criminal convictions make it easier to dismiss inhumane treatment. Or maybe the American public is just growing accustomed to our government treating migrants in this way.
