Autumn Statement 2023: Tax cuts about long-term growth, not next election, claims chancellor

Published

1 year ago

November 23, 2023

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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has insisted his tax cuts are about “long-term growth” for the economy, calling it “silly” to think they were instead about the timing of the next election.

The Conservative Party has been told to be ready for a general election from 1 January, a senior government source told Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby, with a vote being called as early as May if Wednesday’s autumn statement goes down well with voters.

In his speech to the Commons, Mr Hunt announced a raft of measures that some see as a pre-election giveaway, including reducing national insurance for employees from 12% to 10% and scrapping it entirely for the self-employed.

But economists have pointed out that the overall tax burden will remain at a record high because of the continued freeze on tax thresholds.

Politics live: ‘Clear choice’ at next election, says Hunt

The chancellor told Sky News he hadn’t chosen “the most populist tax cuts”, with most of the policies aimed at boosting business growth.

But he denied the NI cuts were there to win over voters ahead of a campaign, saying: “It’s silly to think about this in terms of the timing of the next election. We’re trying to make the right decisions for long-term growth of the economy.”

The tax cuts came amid long-standing pressure from the Tory backbenches to reduce the burden on both the public and business, which has been sat at a 70-year high.

But a general election is also looming, with the government having to call the ballot by January 2025 at the latest, and the Conservatives are still lagging behind Labour in the polls.

A senior government source told Beth Rigby that the Tories’ campaign director, Issac Levido, is due to join the party’s headquarters on a full-time basis from the new year in order to make sure they are ready for the election as soon as possible.

Another senior source also told Sky News’ political editor that the plan was to “prepare for November” but be “ready for May”, in case the tax cuts help them narrow the gap, giving them a better chance of winning an historic fifth term in office.

But it also gives them an option if the measures go down badly on their own backbenchers and a confidence vote is called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s leadership, allowing him to trigger a snap election.

Mr Hunt defended the fact the tax burden had been so high in recent years, telling Sky News’ Kay Burley “it was right to help families” through COVID and the cost of living crisis, but that comes at a cost.

“I also think it’s right to make a start in bringing down taxes,” he added. “But the taxes that I brought down are not the crowd pleasers that were on the tip of everyone’s tongues, inheritance tax or income tax.

“They’re the taxes that are going to help businesses grow, and that is the way that we will increase our long term prosperity, raise wages, raise living standards. And that was the choice that a Conservative government made yesterday.”

He added: “What I do acknowledge is that we’re going to show discipline in public spending. It’s not going to grow in real terms as fast as some people would like.

“But that is happening because I’m choosing to cut taxes mainly for business, and to help businesses recruit more people.

“I accept that we are going to have to make difficult decisions, not do all the spending that everyone would want. But what I would say in the longer run is if you want to put more money into the NHS, you need a strong economy.”

The chancellor also attempted to draw a line in the sand between the Tories and Labour, adding: “What Conservatives say is the only way that we’ll increase prosperity for families up and down the country is by making businesses more competitive. It’s what economists call supply side measures.

“The Labour approach is to boost demand in the economy by raising borrowing by £28bn a year. I agree that has a short term impact, but the longer term result of increasing borrowing is more debt, higher debt payments, that means that taxes have to go up to pay for them, that makes our economy less competitive.

“So there is a very big difference between the Conservative approach and the Labour approach. And why, in the end, do people vote Conservative in elections? It’s because they trust us to make decisions for the long term growth of the economy. That’s what we did yesterday.”

Giving her assessment of the autumn statement, Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves said there “wasn’t anything… that remotely compensates for the tax increases that we have had under the Conservatives these last four years” and the tax burden under the Tories was just set to increase.

Speaking to Sky News, she added: “In the end, how do you know if you’re better off? It’s your bank balance.

“And the truth is that this will be the first parliament ever where real disposable incomes are going to be lower at the end of it than they were at the beginning.

“People can see that when they look at their bank statements, when they log in to their bank accounts and see that the taxes that are being taken, the mortgage payments that are going out, the gas and electricity bills… that again are going to rise in January, all putting big pressure on the family finances and the tax increases that have already been announced [are more] than the chancellor gave back yesterday.”

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

Published

12 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

14 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

21 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.