New law to ensure 40% of trains run during strikes, government announces
The government will introduce a new law to parliament on Tuesday, which they say will ensure 40% of trains still run on strike days.
The new minimum service level regulations will also make sure “certain priority routes can remain open” – though it is not yet clear which journeys will be covered.
Other rules will be introduced for border security staff and ambulance workers, in plans Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says will “stop unions de-railing Christmas for millions of people”.
Politics live: PM gives backing to ‘clamp down’ on ‘acts of criminality’ at Gaza protests
The details follow on from the government’s Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act that it passed in January, giving ministers the power to set minimum service levels across multiple sectors.
The legislation caused an uproar from unions, who have again slammed the government for its latest move, calling it “unworkable” and “undemocratic”.
The TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “These anti-strike laws won’t work. The crisis in our public services is of the government’s own making.
“Rather than engaging constructively with unions, they are attacking the right to strike. And they are punishing paramedics and rail staff for daring to stand up for decent pay and better services.”
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, also claimed the government was “getting their excuses in early for Christmas”, adding: “Rishi Sunak is offering another sticking plaster to distract from the Conservatives’ track record of failure.
“We all want minimum standards of service and staffing but it’s Tory ministers who are consistently failing to provide them.”
But Mr Sunak said it was the “right long-term decision… to keep people safe and continue delivering the vital public services that hard-working people rely on”.
Under the new law, employers will be able to issue notices to people “who are reasonably required to work to ensure minimum service levels are met”, the government said.
It will also make unions “take reasonable steps and ensure their members who are identified with a work notice comply” – with the statutory guidance set out by the Department for Business and Trade following a consultation.
If unions fail to do this, they can be sued, with the maximum fine for unlawful strike action now sitting at £1m.
Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge
Sky News Monday to Thursday at 7pm.
Watch live on Sky channel 501, Freeview 233, Virgin 602, the Sky News website and app or YouTube.
“We are doing everything in our power to stop unions de-railing Christmas for millions of people,” said Mr Sunak.
“This legislation will ensure more people will be able to travel to see their friends and family and get the emergency care they need.
“We cannot go on relying on short term fixes – including calling on our Armed Forces or civil servants – to mitigate the disruption caused by strike action.
“That’s why we’re taking the right long-term decision to bring in minimum service levels, in line with other countries, to keep people safe and continue delivering the vital public services that hard-working people rely on.”
The rules for border security will apply to both the Border Force and selected HM Passport Office staff, and state that services “should be provided at a level that means that they are no less effective than if a strike were not taking place”, as well as ensuring all ports and airports remain open on a strike.
For ambulance workers, the legislation will only impact England, and will “ensure that cases that are life-threatening, or where there is no reasonable clinical alternative to an ambulance response, are responded to”.
The three areas have been chosen following government consultations to establish what they think are the correct minimum service levels to introduce following a raft of strikes that have dominated the past year.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch speaks to Kay Burley about trains trikes, claiming they are resonating with the public.
But the Department of Health and Social Care is still carrying out on “expanding the scope of minimum service levels to cover other urgent and emergency hospital-based services”, which could include nurses and doctors.
Unison – which represents ambulance workers, as well as other healthcare professionals – called the legislation a “pointless move [that] won’t solve a single problem in the NHS”.
The union’s head of health, Sara Gorton, added: “Measures are already in place to protect patients during action. Sacking ambulance workers on strike won’t get the millions awaiting hospital treatment any closer to the top of the list.
“It’s just a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the government’s appalling record on the NHS.
“The public wants ministers to cut waiting times, shorten delays and attract more staff to the NHS. Not make an already dire situation significantly worse.”
The Department for Education has already committed to introducing minimum service into schools and colleges, though at the moment it will be on a voluntary basis with agreement from unions.
However, ministers will launch their own consultation if an agreement can’t be reached.
The Department for Business and Trade is also launching a consultation on removing regulations that prevent agency workers being supplied to cover striking employees, with a promise to publish its findings “in due course”.
The TUC’s Mr Nowak said unions would continue to fight back against the “spiteful legislation”, adding: “We won’t stop until it is repealed.”
King’s Speech live: Watch our special programme on Sky News tomorrow, hosted by Sophy Ridge from 10.30am. You will also be able to follow it live on the app and website.
Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, faces a 20-year prison sentence as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking a severe penalty for his fraudulent activity.
The US DOJ on April 28 filed the government’s sentencing memorandum against Mashinsky, recommending a 20-year prison sentence due to his fraudulent actions leading to multibillion-dollar losses by Celsius customers.
The 97-page memo mentioned that Celsius users were unable to access approximately $4.7 billion in crypto assets after the platform halted withdrawals on June 12, 2022.
“The Court should sentence Alexander Mashinsky to twenty years’ imprisonment as just punishment for his years-long campaign of lies and self-dealing that left in its wake billions in losses and thousands of victimized customers,” the DOJ stated.
Mashinsky’s personal benefit was $48 million
In addition to listing massive investor losses resulting from the Celsius fraud, the DOJ mentioned that Mashinsky has personally profited from the fraudulent schemes in his role.
As part of his plea in December 2024, Mashinsky admitted that he was the leader of the criminal activity at Celsius, that his crimes resulted in losses in excess of $550 million, and that he personally benefited more than $48 million, the authority said.
The DOJ emphasized that Mashinsky’s guilty plea showed that his crimes were “not the product of negligence, naivete, or bad luck,” but rather the result of “deliberate, calculated decisions to lie, deceive, and steal in pursuit of personal fortune.”
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest, April 20 – 26
The concept of a Russian ruble stablecoin received special attention at a major local crypto event, the Blockchain Forum in Moscow, with key industry executives reflecting on some of the core features a ruble-backed stablecoin might require.
Sergey Mendeleev, founder of the digital settlement exchange Exved and inactive founder of the sanctioned Garantex exchange, put forward seven key criteria for a potential “replica of Tether” in a keynote at the Blockchain Forum on April 23.
Mendeleev said a potential ruble stablecoin must have untraceable transactions and allow transfers without Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.
However, because one of the criteria also requires the stablecoin to comply with Russian regulations, he expressed skepticism that such a product could emerge soon.
The DAI model praised
Mendeleev proposed that a potential Russian “Tether replica” must be overcollateralized similarly to the Dai (DAI) stablecoin model, a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin that maintains its one-to-one peg with the US dollar using smart contracts.
“So, any person who buys it will understand that the contract is based on the assets that super-securitize it, not somewhere on some unknown accounts, but free to be checked by simple crypto methods,” he said.
Another must-have feature should be excess liquidity on both centralized and decentralized exchanges, Mendeleev said, adding that users must be able to exchange the stablecoin at any time they need.
According to Mendeleev, a viable ruble-pegged stablecoin also needs to offer non-KYC transactions, so users are not required to pass their data to start using it.
“The Russian ruble stablecoin should have the opportunity where people use it without disclosing their data,” he stated.
Related: Russia’s central bank, finance ministry to launch crypto exchange
In the meantime, users should be able to earn interest on holding the stablecoin, Mendelev continued, adding that offering this feature is available via smart contracts.
Russia opts for centralization
Mendeleev also suggested that a potential Russian version of Tether’s USDt (USDT) would need to feature untraceable and cheap transactions, while its smart contracts should not enable blocks or freezes.
The final criterion is that a potential ruble stablecoin would have to be regulated in accordance with the Russian legislation, which currently doesn’t look promising, according to Mendeleev.
“Once we put these seven points together […] then it would be a real alternative, which would help us at least compete with the solutions that are currently on the market,” he stated at the conference, adding:
“Unfortunately, from the point of view of regulation, we are currently going in the absolutely opposite direction […] We are going in the direction of absolute centralization, not in the direction of liberalization of laws, but consolidation of prohibitions.”
Possible solutions
While the regulatory side is not looking good, a potential Russian version of USDT is technically feasible, Mendeleev told Cointelegraph.
“Except for anonymous transactions, everything is easy to implement and has already been deployed by several projects, but it’s just not unified in one project yet,” he said.
The crypto advocate specifically referred to interesting opportunities by projects like the ruble-pegged A7A5 stablecoin, unblockable contracts at DAI, and others.
Related: Russian crypto exchange Mosca raided amid cash-to-crypto ban talks
Regulation is necessary but not enough, Mendeleev said, adding that the most difficult part is the trust of users who must see the ruble stablecoin as a viable alternative to major alternatives like USDT.
Recent reports suggest that the deputy head of Russia’s Finance Ministry’s financial policy department urged the government to develop ruble stablecoins.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Russia has continued to progress its central bank digital currency project, the digital ruble. According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the digital ruble is scheduled to be rolled out for commercial banks in the second half of 2025.
Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest, April 20 – 26
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway