David Cameron to return to cabinet table as Rishi Sunak meets with new top team

Published

1 year ago

November 14, 2023

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Rishi Sunak will meet with his new cabinet today after a dramatic shakeup of his top team saw David Cameron make an unexpected return to frontline politics.

In a major gamble to revive his faltering premiership, the prime minister gave the former Tory leader a peerage in order to make him foreign secretary.

It means the now Lord Cameron will be back around the Cabinet table on Tuesday for the first time since he stood down as prime minister and quit as an MP after losing the Brexit referendum in 2016.

The reshuffle has risked inflaming Conservative divisions as it included the sacking of controversial home secretary Suella Braverman – a popular figure on the right of the party.

Ms Braverman was purged after she accused the Metropolitan Police of left-wing bias in its handling of protests in an article for The Times which was not fully authorised by Number 10. She had also come under criticism in previous weeks for saying that homeless people living in tents was a “lifestyle choice”.

Former minister Andrea Jenkyns submitted a furious letter of no confidence in Mr Sunak to the Tory backbench 1922 Committee in the wake of the decision.

She argued that Ms Braverman “was the only person in the cabinet with the balls to speak the truth of the appalling state of our streets and a two-tier policing system that leaves Jewish community in fear for their lives and safety”.

“If it wasn’t bad enough that we have a party leader that the party members rejected, the polls demonstrate that the public reject him, and I am in full agreement. It is time for Rishi Sunak to go,” the MP added.

The letter does not in itself threaten to provoke a vote of no confidence in the Conservative leader, as the threshold stands at 15% of sitting Tory MPs.

But Number 10 may be wary of more to come after a group of hardline Tory MPs held a meeting in parliament on Monday where concerns were shared about the reshuffle.

Around 12 MPs, including Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson and former cabinet minister Simon Clarke attended in person at the New Conservatives grouping led by Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates.

Other MPs to criticise Ms Braverman’s removal include Sir Jacob Rees Mogg, who warned that the Conservatives “are in danger” of losing votes to the right-wing Reform party.

The former Brexit minister said while Ms Braverman was prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (EHRC) to enact the controversial Rwanda deportation plan, currently held up in the courts, her successor James Cleverly has signalled he does not want to do this.

“There is a distinct watering down on the migration policy,” he told BBC Newsnight.

Ms Braverman has said little about her departure so far but in a potentially ominous warning to Mr Sunak, said she would have more to say “in due course”.

Meanwhile former cabinet secretary Therese Villiers told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge she would be a “force to be reckoned with” on the backbenches.

Mr Cleverly, the former foreign secretary, has insisted he will be just as committed to the government’s “stop the boats pledge” in his new role.

His appointment is likely to face more scrutiny in the coming days, with a Supreme Court judgement due on Wednesday on whether the much-delayed Rwanda plan is lawful.

But for the moment it has largely been overshadowed by the political comeback of Lord Cameron.

Cameron comeback massive shock

The appointment was a massive shock in Westminster, not just because of the return of a former prime minister to government – the first since Alec Douglas-Home in the 1970s – but also because of his views on China.

During the Cameron administration there was a “golden era” of UK-China co-operation, something Mr Sunak described as “naive” last year following growing tensions with Beijing.

Lord Cameron has also been critical of Mr Sunak’s decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2, while the prime minister used his Tory conference speech to distance himself from the legacy of his predecessors.

But the former prime minister made it clear he backs Mr Sunak and will work with him to help the Tories win the general election, which is expected next year.

The new foreign secretary said: “Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable prime minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time.”

The appointment has raised questions about how he will be held to account if he can’t answer to MPs in the Commons.

He also faces questions over the Greensill affair, in which he privately lobbied ministers in an attempt to win Greensill Capital access to an emergency coronavirus loan scheme.

This was seized on by opposition MPs who criticised the “clown show” reshuffle, which also saw Steve Barclay take Therese Coffey’s job as environment secretary, while Victoria Atkins became health secretary.

In another key appointment, GB News presenter and former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey was brought back into government as a minister without portfolio, reportedly to “speak common sense” on behalf of the government and push forward its “anti-woke” agenda, in a conciliatory move to the Tory right.

However many of the party’s One Nation MPs – closer to the centre of politics – may welcome the return of Lord Cameron, who secured them two victories at general elections and is well known internationally.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock said of the reshuffle: “Excellent for the Conservatives, showing Rishi Sunak will fight the election on the centre ground.”

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Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO

Published

8 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO

Stablecoins are the single best tool for the United States government to maintain the US dollar’s hegemony in global financial markets, according to LayerZero Labs CEO and founder Bryan Pellegrino.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, the CEO of LayerZero Labs, which created the LayerZero interoperability protocol recently chosen by Wyoming to be the distribution partner for the Wyoming stablecoin, said that the cross-border accessibility of dollar-pegged tokens makes them an obvious choice to drive US dollar demand. Pellegrino added:

“Stablecoins for the US dollar are the single best tool — the last Trojan Horse or vampire attack on every single other currency in the world — whether it is Argentina, whether it is Venezuela, whether it is all of the countries that have massive inflation.”

The CEO said he expects support for stablecoins on both the federal and state levels to grow because of the obvious boost stablecoins give to the US dollar in foreign exchange markets and the financial moat stablecoin-driven demand will create around the US dollar’s global reserve currency status.

Dollar, US Government, Stablecoin — *Stablecoin market overview. Source:* *RWA.XYZ*

US government looks to stablecoins to protect US dollar

Pellegrino cited Tether’s emerging role as one of the largest buyers of US Treasury bills in the world as evidence of the demand for US debt instruments from stablecoin issuers.

Tether recently became the seventh-largest holder of US Treasuries, beating out Canada, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would leverage stablecoins to extend US dollar hegemony and indicated this would be a top priority for officials in 2025.

According to a 2023 report from Chainalysis, over 50% of all the digital asset value transferred to countries in the Latin American region, including Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela was denominated in stablecoins.

The low transaction fees, relative stability, and near-instant settlement times for dollar-pegged stablecoins make these real-world tokenized assets ideal for remittances and stores of value for residents in developing countries suffering from high inflation and capital controls.

Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins

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CFPB likely to step back from crypto regulation — Attorney

Published

10 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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CFPB likely to step back from crypto regulation — Attorney

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will likely see a reduced role in crypto regulations as other federal agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and state-level regulators assume a bigger role in crypto policy, according to Ethan Ostroff, partner at the Troutman Pepper Locke law firm.

“I think with the current administration, my sense is, we are highly likely to see a significant pullback by the CFPB in the context of the activity by other regulators,” Ostroff told Cointelegraph in an interview.

State regulators also have the authority under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) to assume some of the regulatory roles of the CFPB, the attorney said but also added that some regulatory functions will continue to fall within the purview of the CFPB as a matter of established law.

Ostroff cited the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) as regulators to keep an eye on as potential leaders of crypto regulations at the state level.

However, the attorney clarified that while the CFPB may see a diminished role during the Trump administration, the agency would not be outright dismantled during the current regime due to “statutorily mandated obligations and requirements” that require acts of Congress to change.

Trump administration targets CFPB in efficiency push

The Trump administration targeted the CFPB as part of a broader push by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash government spending and reduce the federal debt.

Russell Vought, the recently appointed head of the CFPB, announced major funding cuts to the agency and scaled back operations within days of assuming the helm at the CFPB in February 2025.

Bitcoin Regulation, US Government, United States, Donald Trump — *Source:* *Russell Vought*

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Elon Musk for dismantling the CFPB, which the US senator co-founded back in 2007.

Warren characterized Musk as a “bank robber” and claimed that the Trump administration dismantled the CFPB to undo consumer protection rules and have greater control over the financial system.

In a February 12 interview with Mother Jones, the senator stressed that the Executive Branch of government does not have the statutory authority to fully dismantle the CFPB, which can only be done through Congressional approval.

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

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Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments

Published

16 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing .5 billion in repayments

Nearly 400,000 creditors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX risk missing out on $2.5 billion in repayments after failing to begin the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.

Roughly 392,000 FTX creditors have failed to complete or at least take the first steps of the mandatory Know Your Customer verification, according to an April 2 court filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

FTX users originally had until March 3 to begin the verification process to collect their claims.

“If a holder of a claim listed on Schedule 1 attached thereto did not commence the KYC submission process with respect to such claim on or prior to March 3, 2025, at 4:00 pm (ET) (the “KYC Commencing Deadline”), 2 such claim shall be disallowed and expunged in its entirety,” the filing states.

Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments — *FTX court filing. Source:* *Bloomberglaw.com*

The KYC deadline has been extended to June 1, 2025, giving users another chance to verify their identity and claim eligibility. Those who fail to meet the new deadline may have their claims permanently disqualified.

According to the court documents, claims under $50,000 could account for roughly $655 million in disallowed repayments, while claims over $50,000 could amount to $1.9 billion — bringing the total at-risk funds to more than $2.5 billion.

The next round of FTX creditor repayments is set for May 30, 2025, with over $11 billion expected to be repaid to creditors with claims of over $50,000.

Under FTX’s recovery plan, 98% of creditors are expected to receive at least 118% of their original claim value in cash.

How FTX users can complete KYC

Many FTX users have reported problems with the KYC process.

However, users who were unable to submit their KYC documentation can resubmit their application and restart the verification process, according to an April 5 X post from Sunil, FTX creditor and Customer Ad-Hoc Committee member.

Impacted users should email FTX support (support@ftx.com) to receive a ticket number, then log in to the support portal, create an account, and re-upload the necessary KYC documents.

FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, processed the first round of repayments in February, distributing $1.2 billion to creditors.

The crypto industry is still recovering from the collapse of FTX and more than 130 subsidiaries launched a series of insolvencies that led to the industry’s longest-ever crypto winter, which saw Bitcoin’s (BTC) price bottom out at around $16,000.

While not a “market-moving catalyst” in itself, the beginning of the FTX repayments is a positive sign for the maturation of the crypto industry, which may see a “significant portion” reinvested into cryptocurrencies, Alvin Kan, chief operating officer at Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph.