Starmer’s spin doctor quits after Labour’s latest by-election blow

Published

4 years ago

June 19, 2021

admin

Sir Keir Starmer’s top spin doctor has quit after Labour suffered another poor by-election result in which the party lost its deposit.

Ben Nunn announced he was stepping down as the opposition leader’s director of communications, after the party trailed in fourth behind the Green Party in the Chesham and Amersham poll.

The departure of the top aide represents another blow to Sir Keir after Labour picked up 622 votes in the by-election securing just 1.6% of the vote – down from 12.9% at the last general election.

It follows the party’s crushing defeat last month when Labour lost its heartland seat of Hartlepool to the Tories, triggering bitter recriminations against the leadership.

Mr Nunn was said to be quitting to pursue other projects rather than as a direct response to the poor electoral showing, and he continued to support Sir Keir.

In his departure email to staff, Mr Nunn wrote: “I remain as convinced today as I ever have been that he will be a great prime minister and make this a better, stronger, more prosperous country.

“The decision to step down has been one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to take.”

Having worked together since 2017, Mr Nunn was with Sir Keir when he was shadow Brexit secretary and helped his successful campaign in the race to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

Deputy communications director Paul Ovenden is also standing down, but his departure is understood to be because of family reasons and unconnected to political events.

The by-election on Thursday saw the Conservative stronghold in Buckinghamshire fall to the Liberal Democrats.

The party’s newest MP Sarah Green overturned a 16,000 majority to win Chesham and Amersham by 8,028 votes, which had been Tory-held since its creation in 1974.

The Greens came in third, with Labour lagging behind in fourth.

In Mr Nunn’s leaving message, he added: “I’ve worked in politics for about six years now and in that time I’ve worked through the junior doctors’ dispute, EU referendum campaign, a leadership contest, Brexit, a general election, another leadership contest and a global pandemic.

“I’ve had the opportunity to learn and experience so much. Now is the chance for me to go forward and do something different.”

Meanwhile, Conservative Party co-chair Amanda Milling has acknowledged that the humiliating defeat in Chesham and Amersham was “a warning shot”.

The HS2 rail line being built through the constituency was a major issue in the campaign, as was the proposed planning reforms that have sparked fears about building in the countryside around the seat in the Chilterns.

In the wake of the loss, Boris Johnson has denied the Tories were neglecting southern parts of England in favour of its new northern seats .

The prime minister admitted his party had suffered what was “certainly a disappointing result”, but he pointed to “particular circumstances” in the constituency.

Politics

IMX surges 15% after Immutable says SEC ended probe

Published

4 hours ago

March 26, 2025

admin

IMX surges 15% after Immutable says SEC ended probe

The token tied to the crypto gaming giant Immutable surged 15% in the hours after it announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission closed its investigation into the firm and would take no further action.

The Immutable (IMX) token rose around 15% on March 25 to reach just under $0.74 shortly after the firm announced that the SEC shut its inquiry without any breach of violations, which Immutable said closed “the loop on the Wells notice issued by the SEC last year.”

IMX matched crypto market downtrend

It is the highest price that IMX has reached since March 3, before a broader market decline — driven by prolonged uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and US interest rates — pushed it down to $0.46 on March 11.

At the time of publication, IMX had retraced back to $0.67, according to CoinMarketCap. A move back toward $0.70 would wipe approximately $449,500 in short positions, according to CoinGlass data.

Cryptocurrencies, Markets — *IMX is up 0.34% over the past 30 days. Source:* *CoinMarketCap*

While the token price surged on the positive news, it barely moved when Immutable announced in November it had been issued a Wells notice. However, the broader market was already gaining momentum as Trump’s odds to win the election looked strong in the days before his eventual win on Nov. 5.

Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson said in a March 25 X post that the SEC’s dropped investigation was “an enormous win for Web3 gaming.”

“After a year of fighting, this threat to digital ownership rights has finally been put to rest,” Ferguson said.

Among the top gaming crypto tokens by market cap, several have seen an upswing over the past 24 hours. Gala (GALA) is up 2.78%, The Sandbox (SAND) is up 3.78%, FLOKI (FLOKI) is up 1.91%, and Axie Infinity (AXS) is up 1.50%.

IMX hit its all-time high of $9.32 in November 2021 during a major rally in gaming tokens. There’s been speculation about when gaming tokens will experience another significant uptrend, as they’ve historically surged after the broader crypto market moves first.

However, over the past 30 days, the total market cap of gaming tokens has dropped 3.65% to $13.13 billion, while trading volume has taken a bigger hit, falling 33.45% to $1.75 billion.

Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Politics

North Carolina bills would add crypto to state’s retirement system

Published

4 hours ago

March 26, 2025

admin

North Carolina bills would add crypto to state’s retirement system

North Carolina lawmakers have introduced bills in the House and Senate that could see the state’s treasurer allocate up to 5% of various state retirement funds into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

The Investment Modernization Act (House Bill 506), introduced by Representative Brenden Jones on March 24, would create an independent investment authority under the state’s Treasury to determine which digital assets could be suitable for inclusion into the state retirement funds.

An identical bill, the State Investment Modernization Act (Senate Bill 709), was introduced into the state’s Senate on March 25.

The bills define a digital asset as a cryptocurrency, stablecoin, non-fungible token (NFT), or any other asset that is electronic in nature that confers economic, proprietary or access rights.

The North Carolina bills don’t set market cap criteria for digital assets, unlike other crypto bills that are working their way into law at the state level.

The newly created agency, dubbed the North Carolina Investment Authority, would, however, need to carefully weigh the risk and reward profile of each digital asset and ensure the funds are maintained in a secure custody solution.

Bitcoin legislation tracker Bitcoin Laws noted on X that House Bill 506 wasn’t drafted as a Bitcoin reserve bill as it does not mandate the investment authority to hold Bitcoin (BTC) — or any digital asset — over the long term.

North Carolina wants in on Bitcoin bill race

On March 18, North Carolina senators introduced the Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act (Senate Bill 327), which calls for the treasurer to allocate up to 10% of public funds specifically into Bitcoin.

The bill — introduced by Republicans Todd Johnson, Brad Overcash and Timothy Moffitt — aims to leverage Bitcoin investment as a “financial innovation strategy” to strengthen North Carolina’s economic standing.

The treasurer would need to ensure that the Bitcoin is stored in a multi-signature cold storage wallet, and the BTC could only be liquidated during a “severe financial crisis,” with approval from two-thirds of North Carolina’s General Assembly.

The bill would also create a Bitcoin Economic Advisory Board to oversee the reserve’s management.

According to Bitcoin Law, 41 Bitcoin reserve bills have been introduced at the state level in 23 states, and 35 of those 41 bills remain live.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, both of which will initially use cryptocurrency forfeited in government criminal cases.

Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation

Politics

SEC plans 4 more crypto roundtables on trading, custody, tokenization, DeFi

Published

4 hours ago

March 26, 2025

admin

SEC plans 4 more crypto roundtables on trading, custody, tokenization, DeFi

The US Securities and Exchange Commission will host four more crypto roundtables — focusing on crypto trading, custody, tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) — after hosting its first crypto roundtable on March 21.

The series of roundtables, organized by the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, will kick off with a discussion on tailoring regulation for crypto trading on April 11, the SEC said in a March 25 statement.

A roundtable on crypto custody will follow on April 25, with another to discuss tokenization and moving assets onchain on May 12. The fourth roundtable in the series will discuss DeFi on June 6.

“The Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them,” said SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force lead.

The specific agenda and speakers for each roundtable have yet to be disclosed, but all are open for the public to watch online or to attend at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

SEC softens on crypto with new leadership

The agency’s Crypto Task Force was launched on Jan. 21 by acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda. It’s tasked with establishing a workable crypto framework for the agency to use.

The task force held its first roundtable on March 21 with a discussion titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out — Defining Security Status.”

The SEC will also be hosting a roundtable about AI’s role in the financial industry on March 27, according to a March 25 release.

Join us on March 27 for a roundtable discussion on artificial intelligence in the financial industry. Topics include the risks, benefits, and governance of AI.

More details: https://t.co/ekX2RWp2KQ pic.twitter.com/7fH3j1tlwj

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) March 25, 2025

The roundtable will discuss the risks, benefits, and governance of AI in the financial industry, with Uyeda, Peirce and fellow SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw slated to speak.

Under the Trump administration, the SEC has slowly been walking back its hardline stance toward crypto forged under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

The regulator has dismissed a growing number of enforcement actions against crypto firms it launched under Gensler.

Uyeda, who took the reins after Gensler resigned on Jan. 20, flagged plans on March 17 to scrap a rule proposed under the Biden administration that would tighten crypto custody standards for investment advisers.

Uyeda also said in a March 10 speech that he had asked SEC staff for options to abandon part of proposed changes that would expand regulation of alternative trading systems to include crypto firms, requiring them to register as exchanges.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered