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Labour’s smashing victory in the Rutherglen and West Hamilton by-election is just the boost Sir Keir Starmer was hoping for as he heads to his party conference, where he wants to cement his image as a prime minister in waiting. 

It is the first time Labour have taken a seat from the SNP at a Westminster by-election.

If repeated at the approaching general election, the 20% swing to Michael Shanks the new MP, would give Labour some 40 seats, returning the party to the dominance it enjoyed before the surge of Scottish nationalism in the past decade.

Even half that total would give Labour a Tartan Wall bolstering the party’s chances of forming a majority government at Westminster rather than a hung parliament.

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‘We are the party of change’

But, for all Labour’s excitement, it is not a done deal yet. In her introduction to the handbook for the annual Labour conference, which begins in Liverpool this weekend, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner says “Labour is preparing for power with a long-term plan to give Britain back its future” but she also insists “we’ll take nothing for granted”.

Her boss, Starmer, is more cautious still, telling his party: “We’re heading in the right direction. But now is the time to step up another gear.”

This leaves Labour with two tasks as they gather in Liverpool. They want to prepare for government – by outlining their plans and showing the public that they are a trustworthy and competent team in the centre ground of British politics.

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But they have got to win the next election first, and every word spoken on the banks of the Mersey will be scrutinized as to whether it is likely to attract or repel voters.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (centre) and the new Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks (left) at a rally following Scottish Labour's win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. Picture date: Friday October 6, 2023.
Image:
Sir Keir Starmer with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (centre) and the new Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks (left)

Many Tory MPs, business representatives and lobbyists did not bother to go to the Conservative conference last week in Manchester, sensing the end of an era. There will be many more sponsored stalls, receptions and fringe meetings in Liverpool because independent interests are anticipating a change of government.

Unless earth-shaking events elsewhere take attention away from the conference, Starmer’s leader’s speech at 2pm on Tuesday afternoon will be the most closely watched hour of his life. He is being auditioned as the likely next prime minister.

Starmer’s popularity lacks behind that of the party

Every focus group, vox pop and survey shows that people have not yet fully warmed to him. What people think of the party leader is a strong indicator of how people will actually vote.

Starmer’s popularity lags behind Labour’s.

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In the post-Tory conference YouGov poll for The Times, Labour is well ahead at 45% voting intention but Starmer rates only 34% as “best prime minister”. Rishi Sunak on 25% is about the same as his party’s 25%.

Word clouds showing what descriptions ordinary people attach to Sunak feature “rich”, “himself” and “money” prominently.

Starmer gets “boring”, “dull”, “untrustworthy” and “weak”. The two leaders have noticed these digs and routinely punch each other’s bruises in their exchanges.

In Liverpool, Starmer will need to be tougher on his opponent than mocking him for being super-wealthy and out of touch.

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PM’s speech: Three key takeaways

In his leader’s speech last week, Sunak tried to launch himself as the “change” candidate. He disassociated himself from the last five Conservative prime ministers and did a U-turn on the full HS2 rail programme which he, David Cameron and Boris Johnson all previously backed.

Yet until now, the public has been more receptive to charges of “flip-flopping” repeatedly levelled by Tory campaigners against Starmer.

This was at the focus of Sunak’s personal attack on him last week.

“The worst thing about Sir Keir is that he just says whatever he thinks will benefit him the most”, the prime minister told his audience in Manchester. “It doesn’t matter whether he can deliver it, doesn’t matter if it’s true, it doesn’t matter if he said the opposite just a few weeks or months ago.”

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Starmer’s service as a loyal member of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet and his shifting policy answers to the shock of Brexit are key exhibits for the prosecution.

Starmer has dealt with the first by expelling Corbyn from Labour and abandoning the Corbynite policy pledges he made to get elected.

Starmer has dodged an obvious trap, but could face problems over Europe

Europe could yet cause problems for him in Liverpool.

Labour has only grudgingly accepted the strict limits he has placed on future ties with the EU and the leadership is fighting off calls from the grassroots for a debate on EU policy at the conference.

Labour has already endorsed Sunak’s proposal to phase out tobacco sales this century, and can easily navigate his second conference idea of reforming A-levels over the next decade.

By accepting Sunak’s abandonment of HS2 because the Tory “wrecking ball” has already done its work, Starmer has dodged the most obvious trap set for him.

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PM announces launch of ‘Network North’

The Conservatives will not be able to challenge him on how HS2 will be paid for as well as the “Network North” road and rail schemes to which Sunak says he will redirect £36bn of savings.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will keep her iron grip on spending but some in Liverpool will be disappointed by Starmer, yet again falling in line with Tory plans.

Starmer’s speech will have to go beyond ‘if not them, why us?’

To the outrage of Conservative grandees, Labour has one significant advantage this year.

The traditional annual order for conferences is Liberal Democrats first, then Labour, then Conservatives. This autumn, more by accident than design, Labour is going last.

Starmer and his team will have the last word in what is generally expected to be the last conference campaigning season before the election.

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Labour leader criticises PM for not addressing cost of living crisis

Last week, Sunak avoided talking about housing and the cost of living crisis and failed to engage with any detail with the rail and doctors strikes or how he plans to deliver net zero, “stop the boats” or engineer economic growth.

Labour have the opportunity to deal with all these topics, which top most peoples’ worry lists.

Each day the main conference debates have been termed Mission Plenaries, on the five “missions” which Starmer set at the beginning of the year: sustained growth, safe streets, the NHS, social mobility and green energy.

But Starmer’s speech will need to go beyond “if not them, why us?”

He also has to ridicule Sunak’s bid to escape the Tory record by posing as the true change candidate.

A senior Labour campaigner likened Sunak’s shift to a snake shedding its skin, pointing out that Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss all tried the same trick of “vote for us to keep us in power so we can change everything”.

The former director of Public Prosecutions cannot afford to be “boring”. To seize the moment, he will need to summon more Neil Kinnock-style fury or Tony Blair-style scorn than he has managed so far.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (right) and the new Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks (centre) 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

Whether Starmer raises the roof or not, Labour delegates will sober up within 24-hours of leaving Liverpool. Next Thursday, the party faces daunting tests in two by-elections in England in constituencies held by the Conservatives.

In Nadine Dorries’ old seat of Mid Bedfordshire a 19% swing from the Conservatives would do it – the party took Selby & Ainsty this summer with a swing of 23%. But the main opposition parties are fighting each other and could end up splitting the anti-Tory vote.

The other contest in Tamworth, caused by the resignation of Tory whip Chris Pincher, demonstrates the changes in the political landscape that England has undergone since the last time Labour was seriously threatening an incumbent Conservative government – and the difficulty of the challenge facing Starmer and his party.

In 1996 for Sky News I covered another by-election in Tamworth – or South East Staffordshire, as pretty much the same constituency was then called.

The new Labour leader Tony Blair was riding high and Labour captured the seat from the Conservatives with a 22% swing.

Blair speaking at Labour Party conference in 1996
Image:
Blair speaking at Labour Party conference in 1996

The new MP Brian Jenkins held Tamworth throughout the New Labour years until 2010. Nobody is talking up Labour’s chances of victory in the by-election in Tamworth this time – even though it would take an almost identical swing this time as back then.

Tamworth and surrounding areas voted heavily for Brexit and that changed a lot. In the neighbouring Black Country, Labour now has only three of the 13 seats it held in Blair’s heyday.

Never mind the party conference hot air, Labour victories in either or both of these English by-elections would really show that Sir Keir Starmer has shifted Labour into top gear towards general election victory.

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Deloitte predicts $4T tokenized real estate on blockchain by 2035

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Deloitte predicts T tokenized real estate on blockchain by 2035

Deloitte predicts T tokenized real estate on blockchain by 2035

Over $4 trillion worth of real estate could be tokenized on blockchain networks during the next decade, potentially offering investors greater access to property ownership opportunities, according to a new report.

The Deloitte Center for Financial Services predicts that over $4 trillion worth of real estate may be tokenized by 2035, up from less than $300 billion in 2024. The report, published April 24, estimates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 27%.

The $4 trillion of tokenized property is predicted to stem from the benefits of blockchain-based assets, as well as a structural shift across real estate and property ownership.

Deloitte predicts $4T tokenized real estate on blockchain by 2035
Global tokenized real estate value, growth predictions. Source: Deloitte

“Real estate itself is undergoing transformation. Post-pandemic work-from-home trends, climate risk, and digitization have reshaped property fundamentals,” according to Chris Yin, co-founder of Plume Network, a blockchain built for real-world assets (RWAs).

“Office buildings are being repurposed into AI data centers, logistics hubs and energy-efficient residential communities,” Yin told Cointelegraph.

“Investors want targeted access to these modern use cases, and tokenization enables programmable, customizable exposure to such evolving asset profiles,” he said.

Related: Blockchain needs regulation, scalability to close AI hiring gap

The uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs has boosted investor interest in the RWA tokenization sector, which involves minting financial products and tangible assets on a blockchain.

Both stablecoins and RWAs have attracted significant capital as safe-haven assets amid the global trade concerns, Juan Pellicer, senior research analyst at IntoTheBlock, told Cointelegraph.

The tariff concerns also led tokenized gold volume to surpass $1 billion in trading volume on April 10, its highest level since March 2023 when a US banking crisis saw the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank

Related: US banks are ‘free to begin supporting Bitcoin’ — Michael Saylor

Blockchain innovation could drive regulatory clarity

Growing RWA adoption may inspire a more welcoming stance from global regulators, Yin said.

“While regulation is a hurdle, regulation follows usage,” he explained, likening tokenization to Uber’s growth before widespread regulatory acceptance:

“Tokenization is similar — as demand increases, regulatory clarity will follow.”

He added that making tokenized products compliant with a wide range of international regulations is key to unlocking broader market access.

However, some industry watchers are skeptical about the benefits introduced by tokenized real estate.

Deloitte predicts $4T tokenized real estate on blockchain by 2035
The Truth Behind Tokenization and RWA panel. Source: Paris Blockchain Week

“I don’t think tokenization should have its eyes directly set on real estate,” said Securitize chief operating officer Michael Sonnenshein at Paris Blockchain Week 2025.

“I’m sure there are all kinds of efficiencies that can be unlocked using blockchain technology to eliminate middlemen, escrow, and all kinds of things in real estate. But I think today, what the onchain economy is demanding are more liquid assets,” he added. 

Magazine: Ripple says SEC lawsuit ‘over,’ Trump at DAS, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 16 – 22

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Crypto banking rule withdrawal by Fed ‘not real progress’ — Senator Lummis

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Crypto banking rule withdrawal by Fed ‘not real progress’ — Senator Lummis

Crypto banking rule withdrawal by Fed ‘not real progress’ — Senator Lummis

United States Senator Cynthia Lummis suggests the crypto industry may be celebrating too soon over the US Federal Reserve softening its crypto guidance for banks.

“The Fed withdrawing crypto guidance is just noise, not real progress,” Lummis said in an April 25 X post. Lummis called the Fed’s April 24 announcement — withdrawing its 2022 supervisory letter that had discouraged banks from engaging with crypto and stablecoin activities — “just lip service.”

Lummis’ tone was different from the rest of the crypto industry

Lummis, a pro-crypto advocate known for introducing the Bitcoin (BTC) Strategic Reserve Bill in July 2024, pointed out several flaws in the Fed’s announcement, even as Strategy founder Michael Saylor and crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano suggested it was a step forward for banks and crypto.

Cryptocurrencies, United States
Source: Anthony Pompliano

She argued that the Fed continues to “illegally flout the law on master accounts” and still relies on reputational risk in its bank supervision practices. It comes as the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation (FDIC) is working on a rule to stop examiners from considering reputational risk when reviewing a bank’s operations, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

Lummis also highlighted the Fed’s policy statement in Section 9(13), which hasn’t been withdrawn, stating that Bitcoin and digital assets are considered “unsafe and unsound.”

She also reiterated many of the same staff behind Operation Chokepoint 2.0 are still involved in crypto policy today.

“We are NOT fooled. The Fed assassinated companies within the industry and hurt American interests by stifling innovation and shuttering businesses. This fight is far from over.”

“I will continue to hold the Fed accountable until the digital asset industry gets more than a life jacket, Chair Powell — they need a fair shake,” Lummis said.

Related: If Trump fired Powell, what would happen to crypto?

Custodia Bank founder and CEO Caitlin Long seemed to share a similar view to Lummis.

“THANK YOU for seeing this for what it is,” Long said.

Cryptocurrencies, United States
Source: David Sacks

However, many crypto executives praised the Fed’s announcement as a positive development for the industry. Saylor said in an April 25 X post that the Fed’s move means that “banks are now free to begin supporting Bitcoin.”

Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of blockchain regulatory firm Fideum, said the Fed’s decision “is a significant development, as it will simplify the path to institutional adoption.”

Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

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SEC chair suggests ‘huge benefits’ in agency’s third crypto roundtable

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<div>SEC chair suggests 'huge benefits' in agency's third crypto roundtable</div>

<div>SEC chair suggests 'huge benefits' in agency's third crypto roundtable</div>

In one of his first appearances as the recently sworn-in chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins delivered remarks to the agency’s third roundtable discussion of crypto regulation. 

In the “Know Your Custodian” roundtable event on April 25, Atkins said he expected “huge benefits” from blockchain technology through efficiency, risk mitigation, transparency, and cutting costs. He reiterated that among his goals at the SEC would be to facilitate “clear regulatory rules of the road” for digital assets, hinting that the agency under former chair Gary Gensler had contributed to market and regulatory uncertainty. 

“I look forward to engaging with market participants and working with colleagues in President Trump’s administration and Congress to establish a rational fit-for-purpose framework for crypto assets,” said Atkins.

SEC chair suggests 'huge benefits' in agency's third crypto roundtable
SEC chair Paul Atkins addressing the April 25 crypto roundtable. Source: SEC

Some critics of US President Donald Trump see Atkins’ nomination to lead the SEC as a nod to the crypto industry, acting on campaign promises to remove Gensler — the former chair resigned the day Trump took office — and cut back on regulation. Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee questioned Atkins on his ties to the industry, potentially presenting conflicts of interest in his role regulating crypto.

Related: Atkins SEC era sparks massive industry optimism, crypto execs speak out

The direction of the SEC under new leadership

“We’ve noticed that we don’t have to be as concerned […] about being accused of things that we’re not doing, like being broker-dealers for securities,” Exodus chief legal officer Veronica McGregor, who participated in the roundtable, told Cointelegraph on April 24.”It’s just a less scary regulatory environment in general. It is, however, still unclear what the ultimate regs are going to look like for crypto.” 

The SEC crypto task force is scheduled to hold two more roundtables in May and June to discuss tokenization and decentralized finance, respectively. Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the task force, told Cointelegraph in March that she welcomed the opportunity to work with Atkins to “reorient the agency,” hinting at an SEC with regulations more favorable to the crypto industry.

In addition to the roundtables, the crypto task force has reported several meetings with digital asset firms to discuss various policies and considerations in developing a regulatory framework.

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

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