Man charged over threats and abuse sent to Labour deputy leader

Published

4 years ago

October 28, 2021

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A man has been charged with malicious communications after Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner received threats and abuse.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said 36-year-old Benjamin Iliffe, from Cambridgeshire, will appear at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday to face the charge.

Iliffe, of Slade Way, Chatteris, has also been charged with possessing cannabis.

It comes as police said they made a third arrest over the phone calls, emails and letters that have been sent to Ms Rayner in recent weeks.

According to GMP, a 70-year-old man was arrested in conjunction with South Yorkshire Police on suspicion of malicious communication and is still in custody.

He was held over emails received on 16 October.

On Wednesday, a 52-year-old was arrested in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and bailed over abusive phone calls Ms Rayner received a day earlier.

“Enquiries remain ongoing and GMP continues to work in partnership with Cambridgeshire Constabulary and South Yorkshire Police,” a police statement said.

Ms Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, reported getting the threatening communications over a number of weeks.

A spokesman for Ms Rayner said after the first arrest was made: “Abuse and threats of this nature don’t just have an impact on Angela but also on her family, her children and her staff who are on the receiving end of these communications.”

The arrests come at a time of heightened focus on MPs’ security and the abuse they receive in the wake of the killing of Sir David Amess.

The Conservative MP for Southend West was fatally stabbed in a suspected terror attack as he held a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex earlier this month.

Politics

US lawmakers propose tax break for small stablecoin payments, staking rewards

Published

3 hours ago

December 21, 2025

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US lawmakers propose tax break for small stablecoin payments, staking rewards

US lawmakers have introduced a discussion draft that would ease the tax burden on everyday crypto users by exempting small stablecoin transactions from capital gains taxes and offering a new deferral option for staking and mining rewards.

The proposal, introduced by Representatives Max Miller of Ohio and Steven Horsford of Nevada, seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code to reflect the growing use of digital assets in payments. The draft is set “to eliminate low-value gain recognition arising from routine consumer payment use of regulated payment stablecoins,” per the draft.

Under the draft, users would not be required to recognize gains or losses on stablecoin transactions of up to $200, provided the asset is issued by a permitted issuer under the GENIUS Act, pegged to the US dollar and maintains a tight trading range around $1.

The bill includes safeguards to prevent abuse. The exemption would not apply if a stablecoin trades outside a narrow price band, and brokers or dealers would be excluded from the benefit. Treasury would also retain authority to issue anti-abuse rules and reporting requirements.

*Draft bill explains the reasoning behind tax breaks. Source:* *House*

US bill defers taxes on crypto staking rewards

Beyond payments, the proposal addresses long-standing concerns around “phantom income” from staking and mining. Taxpayers would be allowed to elect to defer income recognition on staking or mining rewards for up to five years, rather than being taxed immediately upon receipt.

“This provision is intended to reflect a necessary compromise between immediate taxation upon dominion & control and full deferral until disposition,” the draft said.

The draft also extends existing securities lending tax treatment to certain digital asset lending arrangements, applies wash sale rules to actively traded crypto assets, and allows traders and dealers to elect mark-to-market accounting for digital assets.

Crypto groups urge Senate to rethink stablecoin rewards ban

Last week, the Blockchain Association sent a letter to the US Senate Banking Committee, signed by more than 125 crypto companies and industry groups, opposing efforts to extend restrictions on stablecoin rewards to third-party platforms.