The Tories have been taken over by “crackpots and conspiracy theorists”, Wes Streeting said as he defended Labour’s appeal to voters.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme, the shadow health secretary rejected criticism that his party under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership is “a bit wet”.
He said he was “proud” Labour is “appealing to the country rather than repelling people” when “the cranks, the crackpots and the conspiracy theorists” have taken over the Conservative Party.
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Pointing to comments made by Transport Secretary Mark Harper – who last week claimed local councils want to “decide how often you go the shops” – Mr Streeting added: “When you’ve got cabinet ministers, notionally serious cabinet ministers like Mark Harper on your programme this morning, peddling conspiracy theories as if he’s been doom-scrolling TikTok trying to find the most bonkers things to say from the conference platform – what are these people doing?
“And how on earth does this address the biggest crises in our country?”
Mr Streeting was responding to criticism from the head of Labour’s biggest donor, who last night warned the party against being “too timid” and “limping into Number 10”.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said she wanted the party to resemble the reforming Labour government of 1945 led by Clement Attlee in the aftermath of the Second World War, when the NHS was founded.
Mr Streeting made the point that Labour’s new plan to spend £1.1bn providing another two million NHS appointments during evenings and weekends is an example of its ambition.
The measure forms part of Labour’s NHS proposals – including extra scanners and dental reforms – worth around £1.6bn, but it relies on NHS staff volunteering for extra shifts despite the lure of lucrative private work.
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Heckler interrupts Angela Rayner’s speech
Labour peer Peter Mandelson said he agreed with Ms Graham that “we need more than policy tweaks and we need more than small twists of the policy dial”.
However, he said Sir Keir needs to continue doing what he’s doing “taking the party from being ‘weird’ to ‘normal’.”
RMT boss Mick Lynch also called on Labour to be bolder, telling Sky News: “There’s no point in being timid or hiding your light under a bushel. People need something to vote for, not just something to vote against.”
It comes as Labour members gather in Liverpool for what could be the final Labour conference before the expected general election next year.
Word cloud about Keir Starmer. Pic: BBC
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After its dire performance at the last election, the party has been buoyed by consistent double-digit poll leads over the Tories and the recent Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election triumph over the SNP.
Speaking to the BBC, Sir Keir said he wanted to use the conference to change people’s minds about those who aren’t convinced by him.
Confronted with a word cloud that suggested the public thought “nothing” about him, he said: “I’ve had a lot worse thrown at me in my life… that is why this week is so important for us.
“We come here to this, the last conference before a general election, to set out our positive case.”
In other developments as the conference started on Sunday:
- Sir Keir said his plan to grow the economy would raise money to invest in public services – but would not say what would happen if the economy doesn’t grow
- The Labour leader restated a commitment to build 1.5 million homes over a five-year term, and said he would scrap the Rwanda deportation plan even if it’s approved by the courts and brings down Channel crossings
- Deputy leader Angela Rayner gave a speech which was interrupted by a heckler talking about the NHS
- The speech addressed rental reforms, housing and workers’ rights but did not contain new policy
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
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The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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