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The government has set out its legislative agenda for the next year in the King’s Speech.

The announcements focus on three priorities – growing the economy, strengthening society and keeping people safe.

Here, Sky News looks at each bill included in the speech, and what it aims to deliver.

Reaction as King sets out PM’s legislative agenda – follow live

Growing the economy

Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill

This will support the future licensing of new oil and gas fields, in a move the government says will enhance the UK’s energy security, but which has been criticised by green campaigners.

Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill

This will “secure benefits of Brexit” by enabling the UK’s formal accession to an Indo-Pacific trade bloc of 11 nations, including Australia and Japan, after it signed an agreement to do so earlier this year.

Automated Vehicles Bill

A new legal framework to enable self-driving cars to be used on Britain’s roads.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

Aims to make it harder for firms to trap people in unwanted subscription contracts, take action against fake reviews and drip pricing, and increase competition between big tech firms.

Data Protection and Digital Information Bill

This aims to update the UK’s data protection laws post-Brexit and strengthen the regulator.

Media Bill

A bill to “support the creative industries and protect public interest journalism”. This includes repealing a law requiring media outlets to pay all legal costs in libel cases, regardless of who won.

Arbitration Bill

This bill seeks to modernise the law on dispute resolutions known as arbitration – which take place outside of the courts, including allowing arbitrators to kick out baseless claims quickly and strengthening the courts’ supporting powers.

Draft Rail Reform Bill

This is a draft bill to create a new public sector body, Great British Railways (GBR), aimed at reforming the rail sector. Being in draft form means it is unlikely the legislation will make it on to the statute books in this parliamentary session, or before the next general election.

Strengthening society

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

This aims to introduce a “smoke-free generation” by stopping children turning 14 this year or younger from ever legally buying cigarettes in England. Also aims to crack down on vaping among youngsters.

Leasehold and Freehold Bill

Brings forward long-awaited plans for leasehold reform, including capping ground rents and extending the length of leases from 90 to 990 years. But the proposals have been watered down, with new flats excluded from the plan to phase out leaseholds on new properties.

Renters (Reform) Bill

Carried over from the last parliament, this bill aimed at strengthening renters’ rights includes a long-awaited ban on “no-fault” evictions – but only after stronger possession grounds for landlords and a new court process are in place. It also strengthens powers to evict anti-social tenants and ends a blanket ban on pets.

Football Governance Bill

Legislation to safeguard the future of football clubs for the benefit of communities and fans. This includes the establishment of a new independent football regulator, with the body set to have powers to step in and resolve how money flows from the Premier League down the pyramid.

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Campaign group Republic said close to 200 people attended the protest

Pedicabs (London) Bill

Enables Transport for London to introduce fare controls and a licensing regime for pedicabs – the only form of unregulated transport on the capital’s roads – and bar them from congested areas.

Holocaust Memorial Bill

This will progress the construction of a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Animal Welfare (Live Stock Exports) Bill

Mentioned in explanatory notes of the speech, but not the speech itself, this is a ban on the live export of livestock for slaughter and fattening. The government promised to keep this after the flagship animal welfare bill, which was wider in scope, was dropped. The new bill does not include measures to outlaw the importation of hunting trophies, as promised in the 2019 Tory manifesto.

Economic Activities of Public Bodies Bill

A bill “to ban public bodies from implementing their own politically motivated boycotts of foreign countries”.

More on this story:
Hard to see how Sunak’s first King’s Speech won’t be his last

Keeping people safe

Sentencing Bill

Aims to ensure dangerous offenders are locked up for longer and rapists and sex offenders service their full sentences. Short sentences will also be reformed to help low-level offenders rehabilitate.

Criminal Justice Bill

Forces criminals to attend their sentencing hearings; gives police powers to enter a property without a court warrant to seize stolen goods; criminalises the sharing of intimate images and allows the transfer of prisoners in and out of England and Wales to serve their sentence abroad.

Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill

Security and intelligence services will be handed powers “they need” and “will strengthen independent judicial oversight”.

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

Also known as Martyn’s Law, the bill requires venues to take steps to be better prepared to respond if there is a terrorist attack.

Victims and Prisoners Bill

This will give ministers the power to stop the parole of the worst offenders and prevent them getting married. It will also see creation of Independent Public Advocate to support victims of major disasters like Hillsborough.

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Russia mulls relaxing crypto rules to blunt impact of Western sanctions

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Russia mulls relaxing crypto rules to blunt impact of Western sanctions

An official from the Bank of Russia suggested easing restrictions on cryptocurrencies in response to the sweeping sanctions imposed on the country.

According to a Monday report by local news outlet Kommersant, Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said the regulator is discussing easing regulations for cryptocurrencies. He explicitly linked the rationale for this effort to the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Chistyukhin said that easing the crypto rules is particularly relevant when Russia and Russians are subject to restrictions “on the use of normal currencies for making payments abroad.”

Russia banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments in the summer of 2020.

Chistyukhin said he expects Russia’s central bank to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on this issue by the end of this month. The central issue being discussed is the removal of the requirement to meet the “super-qualified investor” criteria for buying and selling crypto with actual delivery. The requirement was introduced in late April when Russia’s finance ministry and central bank were launching a crypto exchange.

The Bank of Russia, Moscow. Source: Wikimedia

Related: UK sanctions Kyrgyz banks, $9.3B crypto network tied to Russia

What is a super-qualified investor?

The super-qualified investor classification, created earlier this year, is defined by wealth and income thresholds of over 100 million rubles ($1.3 million) or an annual income of at least 50 million rubles.

This limits access to cryptocurrencies for transactions or investment to only the wealthiest few in Russian society. “We are discussing the feasibility of using ‘superquals’ in the new regulation of crypto assets,” Chistyukhin said, in an apparent shifting approach to the restrictive regulation.

Related: How a Russian national allegedly laundered $530M in crypto via Tether

Russia’s fight against sanctions

Russia has been hit with sweeping Western sanctions for years, and regulators in the United States and Europe have increasingly targeted crypto-based efforts to evade those measures.

In late October, the European Union adopted its 19th sanctions package against Russia, including restrictions on cryptocurrency platforms. This also included sanctions against the A7A5 ruble-backed stablecoin, which EU authorities described as “a prominent tool for financing activities supporting the war of aggression.”

Earlier in October, reports indicated that A7A5 — backed by the Russian ruble but issued in Kyrgyzstan — had become the world’s largest non-US-dollar stablecoin. In August, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also redesignated cryptocurrency exchange Garantex Europe to its list of sanctioned entities for a second time.

Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice