u3a

South East London

U3A Current affairs discussion group 28th April 2025

One hundred days of the new presidency on 30th April.

1.        Democracy

Government by executive order, - is this a suppression of democracy?

Democracy failing. Bypassing congress, overriding and ignoring laws passed by congress.

2.      Law and order.

Government agencies are ignoring court orders or deliberately subverting them.

Lawsuits challenging Trump policies raise big constitutional questions, but they also rely on a law that requires the government to follow the correct procedures when changing course.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-losing-court-boring-reason-adminitrative-procedure-act-rcna191113

Arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, unlawful extradition, curtailing free speech.

The Mystery of ICE’s Unidentifiable Arrests

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-mystery-of-ices-unidentifiable-arrests

US top court instructs Trump to return man wrongly deported to El Salvador

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62gnzzeg34o

US Supreme Court halts deportation of Venezuelans under wartime law

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czd3rdjn81lo

Anxiety at US colleges as foreign students are detained and visas revoked

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20xq5nd8jeo

3.      International Affairs.

Threats to the sovereignty of Greenland and Canada,

Ukraine – pressure being put on Ukraine to achieve a peace by Wednesday.

Isreal & Gaza and the West Bank

Trump's Gaza plan will be seen as flying in face of international law.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9w5q8qn59yo

Iran

Houthis – is this the start of a long-term commitment for military engagement?

4.     Tariffs.

Trump’s tariffs: the full list

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/03/trumps-tariffs-the-full-list

Trump faces moment of reckoning on trade after delaying tariffs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6264g7z2ewo

Trump's trade war with neighbours is delayed - what did they all get out of it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c805jjk2klko

China unveils US tariffs and Google investigation in response to Trump levies

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/04/trump-china-tariffs

Inconsistent imposition of tariffs.

Trump policies make US ‘scary place to invest’ and risk stagflation, says Stiglitz

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/17/joseph-stiglitz-economist-donald-trump-policies-tariffs-stagflation-risk-us-investment

5.     Attack on Science – both medical science and University Research.

Trump threatens Harvard's tax-exempt status after freezing $2bn funding

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz01y9gkdm3o

Harvard just stood up to Trump. How long can it last?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20z60vxvmjo

Ousted Vaccine Chief Says RFK Jr.’s Team Sought Data to Justify Anti-Science Stance

https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/peter-marks-fda-vaccine-regulator-rfk-jr-interview-9194e3b4

6.     Administrative incompetence.

Trump’s ‘idiotic’ and flawed tariff calculations stun economists

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/03/trumps-idiotic-and-flawed-tariff-calculations-stun-economists

Trump empowers Musk by ordering agencies to cooperate with Doge

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/11/trump-doge-executive-order-musk

7.      Cancellation of USAid

US cedes ground to China with ‘self-inflicted wound’ of USAid shutdown, analysts say.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/07/donald-trump-usaid-shutdown-impact-china-relationship-funding

8.     How will it end? Is America to be trusted as an ally?  

9.     Is this something we should be doing?.

Nationalities of foreign criminals to be published.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjln7zzz8eo

10.  Is net zero the next Brexit?

Nigel Farage thinks net zero is the new Brexit. Starmer can prove him wrong.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/23/nigel-farage-net-zero-new-brexit-starmer-labour-reform

11.     Youth mobility scheme.

Labour MPs urge Starmer to back youth mobility scheme amid EU trade reset.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/23/labour-letter-youth-mobility-scheme-brexit-eu-brussels

12.   Are we over diagnosing children?

Farage claims doctors ‘massively over-diagnosing’ children with Send and mental health conditions – UK politics live

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/apr/24/ed-miliband-energy-pricing-keir-starmer-nigel-farage-latest-live-uk-politics-news