Keir Starmer’s economic plan risks him looking more like a David Cameron tribute act than an heir to Blair

Published

1 year ago

December 4, 2023

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For years we’ve all been hearing from Sir Keir Starmer about how our public services are on their knees and things need to change.

Now what we are hearing is that an incoming Labour government isn’t going to be able to do much to fix it – in the short term at least.

In a speech today Sir Keir Starmer stressed the fiscal situation an incoming Labour government will inherit from the Conservatives is worse than what was served up to the David Cameron government in the austerity years.

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“Compared with 2010, now debt is much higher, interest rates are much higher, growth is stagnant, Britain’s standing diminished,” Sir Keir told his audience at the Resolution Foundation event. “Public services on their knees, inflationary pressure, serious. Taxes higher than any time since the war.”

Laying it on thick when it came to the economic outlook, it was sort of inevitable that he dodged the question when I asked him if he could at least commit to not cutting public service spending further after the next election. And all of it left me asking myself the question: Vote Labour, get Tory austerity?

That’s because the nod to Margaret Thatcher over the weekend, coupled with his warnings over the economy, made the Labour leader, who was once thought to be the heir of Jeremy Corbyn or perhaps Tony Blair, now looking distinctly like a David Cameron/George Osborne tribute act.

If his reference to the vision of Thatcher provoked a backlash from Labour supporters, his refusal to at least commit to investing in public services – beyond the modest sums Labour have found for the NHS and schools, by closing the non-dom tax status and charging VAT on private schools – is likely to leave many in despair.

Talk to those around the Labour leader and they say the comparison isn’t fair. Starmer, they argue, isn’t making a political argument to “shrink the state” and “hollow out public services” as George Osborne did in 2010, but rather Starmer and his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves are acting out of “economic necessity”.

“There’s been no growth and debt has gone up,” says one key Labour figure. “Spending levels of the past are not possible. Labour used to talk about how to cut up the pie in a fairer way, but there are no pies left and the oven is broken. Growing the economy is top priority.”

For those who see public services on their knees, the failure of commitment to investment will perhaps come as a blow. Labour countenance that, with the highest tax burden in 70 years, taxing more is not the solution. Instead, Starmer and his allies hope that investment into the UK economy will be “swift” and within the first term Labour will be able to begin investing again in public services.

If it all sounds gloomy, it’s because it is. While the last Labour team under Corbyn promised billions of public spending, this team, with the COVID debt pile in its rearview mirror, are promising us not much at all beyond having more defined “missions” and being prepared to reform the planning system or the NHS.

When you are already 20-plus points ahead in the polls, you perhaps don’t need to make many promises, particularly when the Conservatives are already hammering Labour on its one big-ticket spending item – borrowing up to £28bn a year by the end of this parliament to invest in green infrastructure, which they claim will only serve to push up tax and debt.

Labour insiders tell me that Starmer and Reeves will set out their plans for public spending after the budget when we are closer to an election. But if the Labour leader decides to mimic what Brown and Blair did in 1997 and stick to Conservative spending plans, prepare for further public spending cuts. The jury’s still out on whether Starmer will really do that – but he’s certainly rolling the pitch for that option.

Politics

Labour suspends MP Dan Norris after arrest

Published

54 mins ago

April 5, 2025

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Labour suspends MP Dan Norris after arrest

The Labour Party has suspended its MP Dan Norris after “being informed of his arrest”.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his arrest.

“We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.”

Mr Norris defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg to win the new seat of North East Somerset and Hanham in last year’s general election.

He has also lost the party whip in the House of Commons.

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Politics

Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Published

7 hours ago

April 5, 2025

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Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.

The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.

While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.

According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.

Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.

The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.

Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.

Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”

“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.

“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:

“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”

However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.

Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?

In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.

If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.

Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.

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Politics

Wall Street’s one-day loss tops the entire crypto market cap

Published

12 hours ago

April 5, 2025

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Wall Street’s one-day loss tops the entire crypto market cap

The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.

On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.

Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”

Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.

The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.

“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”

Nasdaq, United States, Stocks — *Source:* *Anthony Scaramucci*

On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.

Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.

Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.

Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.

Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.

Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”

Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.

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