King’s Speech: Charles will have to announce measures we know he is bound to dislike
Today is King Charles’s first King’s Speech as monarch.
Update: First King’s Speech in decades as tougher sentences for serious offenders announced
This matters to him, not only because he knows the world will be looking to see if he does something differently (he won’t – continuity matters) – and not only because it could be an opportunity to say something about his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in a new setting.
The pressure will also be on because we all know he will have to announce – without flinching – measures we remember from his time as Prince of Wales that he is bound to dislike, rolling back some environmental protections close to his heart.
Click to subscribe to Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts
The cameras will be there to record any involuntary reactions and indications of dissent – yet he has practised all his life to ensure there won’t be. It will be one of the many moments he uses to show he understands what it means to be King.
This is also Rishi Sunak’s first King’s Speech as prime minister. The last, 18 months ago, came when Boris Johnson was in the hot seat in Number 10, weeks from him being turfed out. His successor’s job is to defy gravity and try and make sure it isn’t his last too.
It is one of the top five moments in Number 10’s calendar for the autumn, alongside the conference speech, reshuffle, Autumn Statement and net zero announcement. It is also, arguably, the hardest of the five to use to send a clear political message. His job is altogether harder than the King’s.
The Gracious Address, as the event is also known, was not conceived to be an especially useful PR moment for the government. It is the day when the monarch, at the behest of the government, sets out the laws which ministers would like to pass in the coming 12 to 18 months. However, a bill being on the list is neither a necessary precondition – nor its absence from the King’s Speech a hindrance – to something entering the statute book.
The previous Queen’s Speech in May 2022 included 31 bills – parliament passed 43 bills over the course of the following 18-month session – showing there is a weak relationship between the speech and future laws at best. As such it is a moment simply when Whitehall, and the prime minister, are forced to prioritise what he cares about.
Read more:
What can we expect from the King’s Speech?
PM to give green light to system awarding oil and gas licences
Choosing what to leave out tells you where a government’s weaknesses lie
That is why what is not in the King’s Speech is almost as important as what is. Because choosing what to leave out tells you about where a government’s weaknesses lie as much as the bills that are in tell you about the message it wants to send.
Which is where the first great big con trick of the day comes in: the concept of “draft” bills. For we are likely a year, and no more than 14 months, away from a general election. Anything with the word “draft” in the King’s Speech has next to no chance of becoming law before the general election, which currently the Tories are on course to lose.
So anything with “draft” appended, or absent altogether, is not a priority and given limited space, and in this session has a relatively low chance of succeeding.
Where does that leave us this week?
Laws to set up Great British Railways are unlikely to form part of a bill, for instance. This is the legislation to create a public body that would cover almost all of the rail network. This was a Boris Johnson priority – it never seemed to be as much of a Rishi Sunak one. Officials would tell you it is still happening: there’s a Derby HQ and a transition team. Let’s see what happens.
Then there was the idea of legislation in the King’s Speech to scrap the rules around nutrient neutrality. This is the one-time EU law that blocked new housing developments in certain areas where there was too much “nutrient pollution” – seen by this government as a block on housebuilding. Labour argues developers should pollute rivers less in the first place.
The government announced it would do away with this EU-inherited law to big fanfare in September but lost a vote on this in the Lords. At one point, Number 10 wanted a standalone bill in Tuesday’s King’s Speech. But it’s controversial, Labour opposes it, and they’ve decided not to risk time in parliament on that plan.
The government claims it’ll find other ways to achieve the same goal using secondary legislation, but it’s not clear they can entirely scrap this EU rule. This tells us something about the government’s strength.
In the same vein, a law to ban gay conversion therapy will not become law before the next election after being downgraded to a draft bill, which means there’s a lot more discussion and change before it takes form. This is likely to have been downgraded because of Tory splits. Some Tory MPs want to outlaw what they see as an “abhorrent” practice.
Other Tories fear such a ban may unintentionally criminalise parents or teachers giving gender identity advice to children. There isn’t an easy way through, and despite many discussions with the chief whip, it is now heading for pre-legislative scrutiny and an uncertain future.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Royals: What’s changed since the Queen’s death?
What is in it?
Number 10 claims there are three priorities: “future prosperity of the United Kingdom”, “seize economic opportunities” and “deliver a brighter future”. In fact, it’s all about grabbing attention.
Suella Braverman, the camera-friendly home secretary, has been deployed to attract the biggest headlines of all, with a Vandalism Bill to outlaw tents and charities giving tents to the homeless.
This comes on top of other eye-catching measures like legislation for warrantless searches to retrieve stolen phones, visible with the “find my iPhone” app. The legislation allows police to go into a property where a phone is without a warrant.
There’s also the crime and justice measures you heard about at the Tory conference – including tougher sentences for prolific offenders, albeit announced in the same week as the latest prison statistics and alongside legislation to allow the government to rent prison places abroad. Meanwhile, there will also be powers to give judges more powers to force criminals to attend sentence hearings.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
King stumbles during royal visit
Attempts to mine dividing lines with Labour
There are attempts to mine environmental dividing lines with Labour – with a law to mandate annual oil and gas licensing to bolster the UK’s energy security and reduce dependence on imports from overseas which is designed to help the Tories, particularly in Scotland.
There is also likely to be the “defence of motorists” measures, limiting council powers on clean air zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, as the Tories push on with their post-Uxbridge drive to prioritise the cost of living over green issues.
Then there are two big housing measures, both of which are not without their problems.
There will be a bill to abolish leaseholds on newly built houses, which means all new houses must be sold as freehold. New flats can be leasehold but only in very exceptional circumstances.
The government says this is a big deal but the outstanding question is what happens to existing properties, and I understand no decision has been made on when to end ground rent or where to cap it – that is for discussions with the Treasury.
Then there is the Renters’ Reform Bill, which is already in parliament but only just got its second reading, allowing it to be carried over into the next session. A number of MP landlords are unhappy about an end to no-fault evictions. Although this appears to have been subject to delay, I understand it could still be implemented before the election after the Levelling Up department agreed to fund the Ministry of Justice to ensure the courts can cope with the necessary extra work.
Does this amount to another relaunch? No. Will it change the dial? With so few genuinely new announcements, it seems hard to imagine so.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
King says climate change ‘the most existential challenge of all’
Yet nothing at this stage of the political cycle is done without the election being at the forefront of the government’s mind, despite all the obstacles.
Everything has been pre-tested on public opinion, and the government is still able to make so much more noise than the opposition that warts and all, what it says at this stage still matters. Hard, yes. Impossible, no.
King’s Speech live: Watch our special programme on Sky News today, hosted by Sophy Ridge, from 1030. You will also be able to follow it live on the app and website.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that if President Donald Trump eventually moves to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, it could undermine investor confidence in the integrity of US capital markets and trigger a financial crash.
During an appearance on CNBC, the Massachusetts Senator said the President does not have the legal authority to remove Powell from his position. Moreover, removing Powell would weaken the financial infrastructure of the US, Warren added:
“If Chairman Powell can be fired by the President of the United States, it will crash the markets. The infrastructure that keeps this stock market strong and, therefore, a big part of our economy strong, and a big part of the world economy strong, is the idea that the big pieces move independently of politics.”
“If interest rates in the United States are subject to a president who just wants to wave his magic wand, this doesn’t distinguish us from any other two-bit dictatorship,” Warren continued.
President Trump has repeatedly called for Powell’s termination, citing the chairman’s hesitancy to lower interest rates. Lower interest rates are usually considered a positive catalyst for risk-on asset prices, including cryptocurrencies, and could reverse the market downturn brought on by the trade war and current macroeconomic pressures.
Related: Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation
Trump’s feud with the Federal Reserve chairman
Trump criticized Powell for not cutting interest rates and called for his termination again in an April 17 Truth Social post, which inflamed speculation that he would follow through on threats and find a way to remove the chairman.
Senator Rick Scott echoed Trump’s calls to remove Powell. “It’s time to clean house of everyone working at the Federal Reserve who isn’t on board with helping the American people and fighting for their best interests,” Scott wrote in an opinion piece published on Fox News.
The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that lowering interest rates is a top priority. Market analyst and investor Anthony Pompliano recently speculated that Trump deliberately crashed financial markets to force lower interest rates.
At the time, Pompliano cited a reduction in the yield of the 10-year US Treasury Bond to just 4%. The 10-year bond yield has climbed back up to 4.3% since then.
Magazine: Meebits and CryptoPunks are like Hot Wheels for adults: New MeebCo owner Sergito
Crypto investor sentiment took another significant hit this week after Mantra’s OM token collapsed by over 90% within hours on Sunday, April 13, triggering knee-jerk comparisons to previous black swan events such as the Terra-Luna collapse.
Elsewhere, Coinbase’s report for institutional investors added to concerns by highlighting that cryptocurrencies may be in a bear market until a recovery occurs in the third quarter of 2025.
Mantra OM token crash exposes “critical” liquidity issues in crypto
Mantra’s recent token collapse highlights an issue within the crypto industry of fluctuating weekend liquidity levels creating additional downside volatility, which may have exacerbated the token’s crash.
The Mantra (OM) token’s price collapsed by over 90% on Sunday, April 13, from roughly $6.30 to below $0.50, triggering market manipulation allegations among disillusioned investors, Cointelegraph reported.
While blockchain analysts are still piecing together the reasons behind the OM collapse, the event highlights some crucial issues for the crypto industry, according to Gracy Chen, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget.
“The OM token crash exposed several critical issues that we are seeing not just in OM, but also as an industry,” Chen said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction daily X show, adding:
“When it’s a token that’s too concentrated, the wealth concentration and the very opaque governance, together with sudden exchange inflows and outflows, […] combined with the forced liquidation during very low liquidity hours in our industry, created the big drop off.”
Crypto in a bear market, rebound likely in Q3 — Coinbase
A monthly market review by publicly traded US-based crypto exchange Coinbase shows that while the crypto market has contracted, it appears to be gearing up for a better quarter.
According to Coinbase’s April 15 monthly outlook for institutional investors, the altcoin market cap shrank by 41% from its December 2024 highs of $1.6 trillion to $950 billion by mid-April. BTC Tools data shows that this metric touched a low of $906.9 billion on April 9 and stood at $976.9 billion at the time of writing.
Venture capital funding to crypto projects has reportedly decreased by 50%–60% from 2021–22. In the report, Coinbase’s global head of research, David Duong, highlighted that a new crypto winter may be upon us.
“Several converging signals may be pointing to the start of a new ‘crypto winter’ as some extreme negative sentiment has set in due to the onset of global tariffs and the potential for further escalations,” he said.
Manta founder details attempted Zoom hack by Lazarus that used very real “legit faces”
Manta Network co-founder Kenny Li said he was targeted by a sophisticated phishing attack on Zoom that used live recordings of familiar people in an attempt to lure him to download malware.
The meeting seemed real with the impersonated person’s camera on, but the lack of sound and a suspicious prompt to download a script raised red flags, Li said in an April 17 X post.
“I could see their legit faces. Everything looked very real. But I couldn’t hear them. It said my Zoom needs an update. But it asked me to download a script file. I immediately left.”
Li then asked the impersonator to verify themselves over a Telegram call, however, they didn’t comply and proceeded to erase all messages and block him soon after.
Li said the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group was behind the attack.
The Manta Network co-founder managed to screenshot his conversation with the attacker before the messages were deleted, during which Li initially suggested moving the call over to Google Meet.
Speaking with Cointelegraph, Li said he believed the live shots used in the video call were taken from past recordings of real team members.
“It didn’t seem AI-generated. The quality looked like what a typical webcam quality looks like.”
AI tokens, memecoins dominate crypto narratives in Q1 2025: CoinGecko
The cryptocurrency market is still recycling old narratives, with few new trends yet to emerge and replace the leading themes in the first quarter of 2025.
Artificial intelligence tokens and memecoins were the dominant crypto narratives in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for 62.8% of investor interest, according to a quarterly research report by CoinGecko. AI tokens captured 35.7% of global investor interest, overtaking the 27.1% share of memecoins, which remained in second place.
Out of the top 20 crypto narratives of the quarter, six were memecoin categories while five were AI-related.
“Seems like we have yet to see another new narrative emerge and we are still following past quarters’ trends,” said Bobby Ong, the co-founder and chief operating officer of CoinGecko, in an April 17 X post. “I guess we are all tired from the same old trends repeating themselves.”
Crypto lending down 43% from 2021 highs, DeFi borrowing surges 959%
The crypto lending market’s size remains significantly down from its $64 billion high, but decentralized finance (DeFi) borrowing has made a more than 900% recovery from bear market lows.
Crypto lending enables borrowers to use their crypto holdings as collateral to obtain crypto or fiat loans, while lenders can use their holdings to generate interest.
The crypto lending market was down over 43%, from its all-time high of $64.4 billion in 2021 to $36.5 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a Galaxy Digital research report published on April 14.
“The decline can be attributed to the decimation of lenders on the supply side and funds, individuals, and corporate entities on the demand side,” according to Zack Pokorny, research associate at Galaxy Digital.
The decline in the crypto lending market started in 2022 when centralized finance (CeFi) lenders Genesis, Celsius Network, BlockFi and Voyager filed for bankruptcy within two years as crypto valuations fell.
Their collective downfall led to an estimated 78% collapse in the size of the lending market, with CeFi lending losing 82% of its open borrows, according to the report.
DeFi market overview
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.
Decentralized exchange (DEX) Raydium’s (RAY) token rose over 26% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the AB blockchain (AB) utility token, up over 19% on the weekly chart.
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
Tokenized stocks are on track to exceed $1 trillion in market capitalization in the coming years as adoption accelerates, two industry executives said at the TokenizeThis conference in New York.
The total addressable market for tokenized stocks — a type of tokenized real-world asset (RWA) — is difficult to project but is “definitely a bigger trillion-dollar market,” Arnab Naskar, STOKR’s CEO, said during an April 16 panel at the event.
In 2025, demand for the instruments has “exploded” from institutions ranging from Web3 wallets to neobanks to traditional financial services firms, according to Anna Wroblewska, Dinari’s Chief Business Officer.
“We’ve had an enormous influx of demand from a much broader scope of potential partners than you might even imagine […] it’s actually been really interesting,” Wroblewska said.
Related: Tokenization can transform US markets if Trump clears the way
Small but growing market share
As of April 18, tokenized stocks comprise around $350 million in cumulative market capitalization, according to data from RWA.xyz.
This represents only a sliver of the total RWA market, which is worth upward of $18 billion, the data shows.
But this could change as tokenized stocks capture a growing share of the US equities market, Wroblewska said. The US stock market has an aggregate value of more than $50 trillion, according to Siblis Research.
There is a “huge appetite for US public equities… even individual investors globally want exposure to US capital markets. Tokenization makes it fast and cheap,” Wroblewska said.
She added that tokenized US Treasury Bills are already in high demand for similar reasons. They currently comprise nearly $6 billion in total market cap, RWA.xyz data shows.
Meanwhile, Coinbase is considering making tokenized shares of its stock available on Base, its Ethereum layer-2 network.
Collectively, tokenized RWAs represent a $30 trillion market opportunity globally, Colin Butler, Movement Labs’ global head of institutional capital, told Cointelegraph in an August interview.
“Tokenization will become a mirror of the market. If the user experience is better, faster, and cheaper, people will default to tokenized assets,” Wroblewska said.
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
-
Sports2 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