Labour vow to ‘get Britain’s future back’ as conference kicks off in Liverpool

Published

2 years ago

October 7, 2023

admin

Labour are promising to “get Britain’s future back” as the party meets for its annual conference.

Proceedings get under way in Liverpool on Saturday with Labour’s women’s conference, before the full summit starts on Sunday.

It follows the Tory conference last week, which was beset by leaks about the scrapping of HS2 – as those hoping to succeed Rishi Sunak made a splash.

Politics latest: ‘We’re the party of change’ – Starmer

Labour will be hoping to capitalise on its recent win in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, which deputy leader Angela Rayner called a “seismic result”.

She told Sky News: “One of the challenges we face – because the Conservatives crashed the economy and the situation we’re going to inherit – is that we won’t be able to reverse everything that the Conservatives have done over the last 13 years.

“But we’re very determined to give Britain its future back.”

Asked about her own ambitions, Ms Rayner said: “I would have an absolute honour and a privilege if I was able to be the deputy prime minister of this country.

“That’s my ambition and my ambition is to get into government, not for me, but for the people out there who deserve that change.

“The Conservatives have delivered chaos for people.

“I want people to have the opportunities that the last Labour government delivered for me, and I’m determined to make sure that we get into government to deliver that for people.”

Ms Rayner is promising a government that will “deliver the biggest boost to affordable, social and council housing for a generation” and prevent developers “wriggling out of their responsibilities”.

Housing is one of many areas that party members will be hoping to hear more details on, with some accusing the party of being light on detail with its policies, including issues such as the cancellation of HS2.

Business and the economy are other areas where Labour want to show they are ready for government.

The party is keen to show it has companies such as Gatwick Airport, Scottish Renewables, Specsavers, Ikea and McVities hosting stands for the first time – with the likes of John Lewis and Mastercard speaking to a “sold-out” business forum.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper will also announce a plan to require police to target the most dangerous abusers and sex offenders using counter-terror style tactics.

“Under Labour, the police will be asked to relentlessly pursue the perpetrators who pose the greatest risk to women, and use all the tools at their disposal to protect victims and get dangerous offenders off the streets,” she said.

“The police should be exhausting every opportunity for enforcement, prevention and protection – too often failure to do so has had devastating and fatal consequences.” 

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Meanwhile, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting renewed his pledge to “modernise or die” in an interview with The Times, promising a Labour government would funnel £171m a year into a “fit for the future” fund for purchasing new equipment to cut NHS waiting times.

He said the money would be enough to double the number of CT and MRI scanners over a parliament so that patients can get diagnosed earlier.

After Ms Rayner’s speech on Sunday, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will speak on Monday, with party leader Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday.

It’s during this speech he will “outline plans to get Britain’s future back” – a slogan he has used before.

Another policy pledge expected to be announced by Ms Rayner is the “biggest-ever transfer of power out of Westminster”, a policy touted last year at an event with former prime minister Gordon Brown.

Speaking on Friday, Ms Rayner said: “Rishi Sunak and the Tories have time and time again taken a sledgehammer to the foundations a good life can be built upon. Decent jobs, secure homes and strong communities are being snatched away from people.

“With five prime ministers in seven years and constant chaos and instability, Britain’s future has been left to take a back seat. The Tories’ legacy is national decline – a nation levelled down and starved of hope.

“While the Tories have stolen Britain’s future, it’s Labour that will give it back with our plan to make working people better off by securing growth for all people and in all places.”

Anneliese Dodds, the chair of the Labour Party, said her party had “the plans to unlock growth, make our streets safe, secure the future of the NHS, break down barriers to opportunity and make the UK a green energy superpower”.

Politics

Prediction markets bet on Coinbase-linked Hassett as top Fed pick

Published

7 hours ago

December 1, 2025

admin

Prediction markets bet on Coinbase-linked Hassett as top Fed pick

Prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi view Kevin Hassett, US President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council director, as the favorite to replace Jerome Powell as the next Federal Reserve chair.

The odds of Hassett filling the seat have spiked to 66% on Polymarket and 74% on Kalshi at the time of writing. Hassett is widely viewed as crypto‑friendly thanks to his past role on Coinbase’s advisory council, a disclosed seven‑figure stake in the exchange and his leadership of the White House digital asset working group.

Founder and CEO of Wyoming-based Custodia Bank, and a prominent advocate for crypto-friendly regulations, Caitlin Long, commented on X:

“If this comes true & Hassett does become Fed chairman, anti-#crypto people at the Fed who still hold positions of power will finally be out (well, most of them anyway). BIG changes will be coming to the Fed.”

Kevin Hassett’s crypto credentials

Hassett is a long-time Republican policy economist who returned to Washington as Trump’s top economic adviser and has now emerged as the market-implied frontrunner to lead the Fed.

His financial disclosure reveals at least a seven‑figure Coinbase stake and compensation for serving on the exchange’s Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council, placing him unusually close to the crypto industry for a potential Fed chair.

Still, crypto has been burned before by reading too much into “crypto‑literate” resumes. Gary Gensler arrived at the Securities and Exchange Commission with MIT blockchain courses under his belt, but went on to preside over a wave of high‑profile enforcement actions, some of which critics branded as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”

A Hassett-led Fed might be more open to experimentation and less reflexively hostile to bank‑crypto activity. Still, the institution’s mandate on financial stability means markets should not assume a one‑way bet on deregulation.

Supervision pushback inside the Fed

The Hassett odds have jumped just as the Fed’s own approach to bank supervision has received pushback from veterans like Fed Governor Michael Barr, who earned his reputation as one of Operation Chokepoint 2.0’s key architects.

According to Caitlin Long, while he Barr “was Vice Chairman of Supervision & Regulation he did Warren’s bidding,” and he “has made it clear he will oppose changes made by Trump & his appointees.”

On Nov. 18, the Fed released new Supervisory Operating Principles that shift examiners toward a “risk‑first” framework, directing staff to focus on material safety‑and‑soundness risks rather than procedural or documentation issues.

In a speech the same day, Barr warned that narrowing oversight, weakening ratings frameworks and making it harder to issue enforcement actions or matters requiring attention could leave supervisors slower to act on emerging risks, arguing that gutting those tools may repeat pre‑crisis mistakes.

Days later, in Consumer Affairs Letter 25‑1, the Fed clarified that the new Supervisory Operating Principles do not apply to its Consumer Affairs supervision program (an area under Barr’s committee as a governor).

If prediction markets are right and a crypto‑friendly Hassett inherits this landscape, his Fed would not be writing on a blank slate but stepping into an institution already mid‑pivot on how hard (and where) it leans on banks.