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This Labour Party conference will feel different.

Unlike the Conservatives, they don’t need a big comeback moment to save them from dire polling, nor are there peacocking leadership hopefuls waiting in the wings (or at least, there is no looming vacancy).

Instead, particularly after the massive win in the Rutherglen by-election, this is a party trying to hold its nerve – any slip up could be dangerous. Labour knows this is not a time for big risks.

As one shadow cabinet ally of Sir Keir put it to me: “It feels like I’m about to go to my brother’s wedding. I really want everything to go well but I know how easily things can go wrong.”

It will be a highly managed affair. Broadcast rounds will be tightly controlled, and fringe events closely monitored. As one senior Labour figure put it, “we need to be radiating vibes of a government in waiting”.

The party, though, will need to watch out not just for members veering off piste at the fringes but work out how to avoid Tory traps.

What is Sir Keir’s answer to HS2? Labour won’t commit to reversing the government’s controversial decision to scrap the northern leg. And can Labour really promise real change – to “Get Britain’s Future Back” (this year’s party slogan) – without spending any money?

More on Keir Starmer

What is Sir Keir’s answer to HS2? Labour won’t commit to reversing the government’s controversial decision to scrap the northern leg. And can Labour really promise real change?

There will be pressure on the Labour leader to put more policy meat on the bone at the conference, as one Labour MP said: “There is far too much complacency and too little detail.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (left) with new Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks arriving at a rally following Scottish Labour's win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. Picture date: Friday October 6, 2023. PA Photo. The seat was vacated after former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was ousted in a recall petition. Ms Ferrier was kicked out of the SNP for breaching Covid regulations by travelling between London and Glasgow after testing positive for the virus. See PA story POLITICS Rutherglen. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
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Sir Keir Starmer with new Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks

The MP warned: “We need to stop talking about when we’re in government. It doesn’t go down well with voters. What we need is a real agenda that binds us all.”

Sir Keir has been bolder in recent weeks, certainly when it comes to policy on Europe and immigration, which has, in turn, opened him up to criticism and a Conservative party keen to paint him as too close to Europe.

One Labour candidate with an interest in immigration tells me Labour’s approach will be “less gimmicks, more sensible pragmatic policy that works”.

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SNP lose Rutherglen by-election in ‘spectacular fashion’
Tory conference sparks fresh call for rules to stop MPs lying

There is a desire too from members for at least a nod in Sir Keir’s speech to at least a vision on housing, the NHS and the cost of living.

And what of Sir Keir, the man? Rishi Sunak certainly tried to reveal more of himself by enlisting his rarely spotted wife, Akshata Murthy, as a warm-up act. Last year, the Labour leader brandished his credentials as the “son of a tool maker” – we could well see another attempt to sell ‘brand Starmer’ to the conference and the electorate.

Ultimately, this Labour conference will be about avoiding any slip ups, and keeping the momentum and the polls behind the Labour leader.

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‘Starmer doesn’t have to be brilliant’ says former Corbyn adviser

Roy Hattersley compared Labour’s 1997 “no risks” campaign to a butler carrying a ming vase across a polished floor. The ming vase analogy applies again today.

Keir Starmer’s conference speech will be one of the most important of his career. A bad speech could unravel his hopes of becoming the next prime minister; a good one could put him a step further on the path to Number 10 this time next year.

“This is the first milestone to the election”, one shadow cabinet minister told me, “we need to show we can shoulder the weight that comes with being in power”.

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Americans lost $9.3B to crypto fraud in 2024 — FBI

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Americans lost .3B to crypto fraud in 2024 — FBI

Americans lost .3B to crypto fraud in 2024 — FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its annual report detailing complaints and losses due to scams and fraud involving cryptocurrency in 2024.

According to the report released on April 23, the IC3 received more than 140,000 complaints referencing cryptocurrency in 2024, resulting in roughly $9.3 billion in losses. The bureau reported that individuals over the age of 60 had been the most affected by crypto-related fraud, with roughly 33,000 complaints and $2.8 billion in losses.

FBI, Fraud, United States, Crimes
Source: FBI

“Last year saw a new record for losses reported to IC3, totaling a staggering $16.6 billion,” said the report. “Fraud represented the bulk of reported losses in 2024, and ransomware was again the most pervasive threat to critical infrastructure, with complaints rising 9% from 2023,” notes the report, adding that, as a group, those over the age of 60 suffered the most losses and submitted the most complaints.

The report added that the resultant losses had increased roughly 66% since 2023, from roughly $5.6 billion to $9.3 billion. The most significant percentage of losses occurred due to crypto investment schemes, while the largest number of complaints related to “sextortion” schemes, in which fraudsters manipulated photos and videos to create explicit content. Other scams included schemes involving the use of crypto ATMs or kiosks.

Related: Crypto scam uses trade war fears to lure victims, Canadian watchdogs warn

In February, the FBI reported its “Operation Level Up” had saved potential victims of crypto fraud roughly $285 million between January 2024 and January 2025. However, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis speculated that 2025 could see the largest number of scams to date, given that generative AI is making the practice “more scalable and affordable for bad actors to conduct.”

Globally, Chainalysis estimated that there had been roughly $41 billion in illicit crypto volume in 2024, with roughly 25% of the funds involved with “hacking, extortion, trafficking, or scams.” Some of the most high-profile crimes included the $1.4 billion in crypto stolen from the Bybit exchange in March and North Korean hackers taking more than $1.3 billion.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

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Bretton Woods institutions must reorient, US Treasury secretary says

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Bretton Woods institutions must reorient, US Treasury secretary says

Bretton Woods institutions must reorient, US Treasury secretary says

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently called for “Bretton Woods institutions,” such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to reorient themselves, a signal that the global monetary order could be shifting.

Speaking at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) on April 23, Bessent called on the IMF and the World Bank to correct trade imbalances and protect the value of fiat currencies against exchange rate risk.

“The Bretton Woods institutions must step back from their sprawling and unfocused agendas,” Bessent said. He added:

“The IMF’s mission is to promote international monetary cooperation, facilitate the balanced growth of international trade, encourage economic growth, and discourage harmful policies like competitive exchange rate depreciation.”

Bessent’s call for the IMF to correct trade imbalances between countries, specifically the US and China, coincides with a decline in the US dollar to three-year lows, $36 trillion in US government debt, and stiff economic competition from China.

Dollar, Economy, United States, Bitcoin Adoption
The Dollar Currency Index (DXY), a measure of the US dollar’s strength relative to other major fiat currencies, plunges to three-year lows. Source: TradingView

Investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio argues that the world is experiencing a global macroeconomic shift that will upend the post-WWII financial order and eventually replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency, potentially with a digital form of money.

Related: Trump tariffs reignite idea that Bitcoin could outlast US dollar

The Bretton Woods Agreement

The Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in 1944 and pegged the currencies of 44 countries to the value of the US dollar, which, at that point, was pegged to the value of gold at $35 per ounce.

Eliminating complex foreign exchange risks between freely floating currencies to make global trade more efficient was the primary goal of the agreement.

Dollar, Economy, United States, Bitcoin Adoption
US President Richard Nixon delivers the infamous “Nixon shock” speech in August 1971, suspending the dollar’s convertibility to gold. Source: Richard Nixon Presidential Library

In August 1971, US President Richard Nixon announced the end of the dollar’s convertibility to gold — formally ending the Bretton Woods agreement in a move that was supposed to be temporary.

“Your dollar will be worth just as much tomorrow as it does today,” Nixon incorrectly told Americans during his now-infamous address.

The IMF and the World Bank, which were spawned from the Bretton Woods agreement, continue operating in an attempt to curb the effects of free-floating fiat currencies on the foreign exchange market.

Bessent eyes stablecoins to protect the US dollar, BTC advocates have another idea

Speaking at the White House Digital Asset Summit on March 7, Bessent said stablecoins could drive international demand for US dollars and US government debt instruments.

Bessent added that the Trump administration will use stablecoins to protect the US dollar and its status as the global reserve currency.

Bitcoin maximalist Max Keiser argued against this plan, predicting that gold-backed stablecoins would outcompete dollar-pegged tokens due to the desire for low-volatility, inflation-resistant money.

Dollar, Economy, United States, Bitcoin Adoption
The US dollar’s purchasing power has declined by over 90% since the year 1900. Source: Visual Capitalist

In March this year, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote that the $36 trillion US national debt could drive investors to Bitcoin (BTC) as market participants start to see BTC as a better store of value than the US dollar.

Bitwise executive Jeff Park voiced a similar prediction in February, focused on the effects of US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

The analyst wrote that the tumult from the ongoing trade war would cause worldwide inflation, which would cause individuals to seek alternative stores of value like Bitcoin, driving its price much higher in the long term.

Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins

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Alabama drops staking lawsuit against Coinbase

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Alabama drops staking lawsuit against Coinbase

Alabama drops staking lawsuit against Coinbase

The Alabama Securities Commission, a financial regulator for the US state, dropped its lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, which accused the company of violating securities laws by offering staking services to clients.

The regulator cited the ongoing work between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the crypto industry to develop clear crypto regulations as the primary reason for dropping the litigation, according to the April 23 legal filing shared by Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal.

The filing read:

“The SEC has announced the formation of a new task force to, among other things, provide guidance for the promulgation of rules regarding the regulation of cryptocurrency products and services.”

“Due to the foregoing, the Commission believes it would be apt to allow policymakers time to consider regulatory constructs,” the filing continued.

The Alabama Securities Commission filed its lawsuit against Coinbase in June 2023, alongside state regulators from California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Alabama drops staking lawsuit against Coinbase
The Alabama Securities Commission dismisses its 2023 lawsuit against Coinbase. Source: Paul Grewal

The Commission’s dropped lawsuit reflects the positive regulatory shift toward cryptocurrencies in the United States as reform at the federal level matriculates into state-level regulatory policy.

Related: Oregon targets Coinbase after SEC drops its federal lawsuit

US states drop Coinbase lawsuit but half still holding out

Five of the 10 states that filed the litigation against Coinbase for its staking services have dropped their lawsuits.

On March 13, Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation became the first of the 10 state regulators to drop the staking lawsuit against Coinbase.

South Carolina’s securities watchdog was the next to drop the 2023 litigation against Coinbase, dismissing the lawsuit on March 28.

Grewal announced that Kentucky’s Department of Financial Institutions followed Vermont and South Carolina’s lead on April 1 by also dismissing its Coinbase lawsuit.

Despite the domino effect of states rescinding litigation against the crypto exchange, the Coinbase chief legal officer said that more work needs to be done.

“Five holdouts are still electing to waste taxpayer resources on lawsuits, and four of those have banned staking with Coinbase, depriving consumers of the right to earn on their platform of choice,” Grewal wrote in an April 23 X post.

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

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