Sir Keir Starmer to promise ‘better bargain’ for UK in major economic speech
Sir Keir Starmer will promise a “better bargain” for the British public in a major speech that will focus on the need for economic growth over spending.
The Labour leader will warn that his government would not be able to “turn on the spending taps” and will instead have to be “ruthless” when it comes to fiscal responsibility.
In a major speech hosted by the Resolution Foundation thinktank, Sir Keir will say the current state of the public finances will place “huge constraints” on what Labour can spend on public services.
“Growth will have to become Labour’s obsession if we are to turn around the economy,” he will say.
It follows a report by the thinktank which found that the UK has experienced 15 years of relative decline, with productivity growth at half the rate seen across other advanced economies, while wages have flatlined, costing the average worker £10,700 a year in lost pay growth.
The Resolution Foundation report also found that living standards of the lowest-income households in the UK are £4,300 lower than their French counterparts.
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Sir Keir will make his speech after an article he wrote in the Daily Telegraph generated controversy for its praise of former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Labour leader said the late Baroness Thatcher brought about “meaningful change” in the UK as she “sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism” during her 11 years in Downing Street.
The remarks have angered some MPs on the left of his party, with one telling Sky News they believed it meant Sir Keir “intends to govern without any real political project of his own”.
“It means meaningful or transformational change is well and truly off the table,” they added.
“He is in effect holding the Tory party’s pint, whilst they get themselves ready to run the country again.”
Sir Keir later sought to clarify his comments, telling the BBC his intention was to compare the “drift” of recent years with the “sense of mission” embodied by previous leaders – including Labour prime ministers Clement Attlee and Sir Tony Blair.
“It doesn’t mean I agree with what she [Thatcher] did, but I don’t think anybody could suggest she didn’t have a driving sense of purpose,” he explained.
The then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, in 1980
Economy ‘biggest issue’ at next election
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden, said the economy was going to be the “biggest issue” at the next election “because we’ve got taxes at a very high level”.
“We’ve had growth at a low level. We’ve had stagnating incomes. Public services are creaking. When you add it all up, it’s been a bad bargain for the British people,” he said.
Asked about his views on Baroness Thatcher, Mr McFadden said the word “admire” was “not the word I’d use”.
“I recognise she won [the general election] three times,” he said.
“I would hope if we were going to win elections, we would make change with the same determination but not in the same direction,” he added.
Pressed on what word he would use instead, Mr McFadden added: “She was successful electorally.”
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Shadow Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden defends Starmer’s comments about Thatcher
Starmer to follow Thatcher praise with Churchill reference
In his speech today, Sir Keir will argue that “Britain is going backwards” under Rishi Sunak’s leadership and that the “political consensus” that hard work will be rewarded has “become nothing short of a lie for millions of people” under the Conservatives.
“Taxes are higher than at any time since the war, none of which was true in 2010,” he will say.
And following his praise for Baroness Thatcher, Sir Keir will also put a twist on a famous quote from another Tory prime minister – Winston Churchill.
He is expected to say: “Never before has a British government asked its people to pay so much, for so little.”
“Inflation, debt, taxes; we face huge constraints,” he will add.
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Sir Keir is also expected to say: “This parliament is on track to be the first in modern history where living standards in this country have actually contracted.
“Household income growth is down by 3.1% and Britain is worse off.”
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said in response: “The largest ‘constraint’ to growing the economy would be Labour’s £28bn a year borrowing plan, which independent economists warn would see inflation, interest rates and people’s taxes rise.
“It is the same old short-term approach from Labour – borrow more and the British people will pay more.”
United States Senator Cynthia Lummis suggests the crypto industry may be celebrating too soon over the US Federal Reserve softening its crypto guidance for banks.
“The Fed withdrawing crypto guidance is just noise, not real progress,” Lummis said in an April 25 X post. Lummis called the Fed’s April 24 announcement — withdrawing its 2022 supervisory letter that had discouraged banks from engaging with crypto and stablecoin activities — “just lip service.”
Lummis’ tone was different from the rest of the crypto industry
Lummis, a pro-crypto advocate known for introducing the Bitcoin (BTC) Strategic Reserve Bill in July 2024, pointed out several flaws in the Fed’s announcement, even as Strategy founder Michael Saylor and crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano suggested it was a step forward for banks and crypto.
She argued that the Fed continues to “illegally flout the law on master accounts” and still relies on reputational risk in its bank supervision practices. It comes as the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation (FDIC) is working on a rule to stop examiners from considering reputational risk when reviewing a bank’s operations, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
Lummis also highlighted the Fed’s policy statement in Section 9(13), which hasn’t been withdrawn, stating that Bitcoin and digital assets are considered “unsafe and unsound.”
She also reiterated many of the same staff behind Operation Chokepoint 2.0 are still involved in crypto policy today.
“We are NOT fooled. The Fed assassinated companies within the industry and hurt American interests by stifling innovation and shuttering businesses. This fight is far from over.”
“I will continue to hold the Fed accountable until the digital asset industry gets more than a life jacket, Chair Powell — they need a fair shake,” Lummis said.
Related: If Trump fired Powell, what would happen to crypto?
Custodia Bank founder and CEO Caitlin Long seemed to share a similar view to Lummis.
“THANK YOU for seeing this for what it is,” Long said.
However, many crypto executives praised the Fed’s announcement as a positive development for the industry. Saylor said in an April 25 X post that the Fed’s move means that “banks are now free to begin supporting Bitcoin.”
Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of blockchain regulatory firm Fideum, said the Fed’s decision “is a significant development, as it will simplify the path to institutional adoption.”
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In one of his first appearances as the recently sworn-in chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins delivered remarks to the agency’s third roundtable discussion of crypto regulation.
In the “Know Your Custodian” roundtable event on April 25, Atkins said he expected “huge benefits” from blockchain technology through efficiency, risk mitigation, transparency, and cutting costs. He reiterated that among his goals at the SEC would be to facilitate “clear regulatory rules of the road” for digital assets, hinting that the agency under former chair Gary Gensler had contributed to market and regulatory uncertainty.
“I look forward to engaging with market participants and working with colleagues in President Trump’s administration and Congress to establish a rational fit-for-purpose framework for crypto assets,” said Atkins.
Some critics of US President Donald Trump see Atkins’ nomination to lead the SEC as a nod to the crypto industry, acting on campaign promises to remove Gensler — the former chair resigned the day Trump took office — and cut back on regulation. Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee questioned Atkins on his ties to the industry, potentially presenting conflicts of interest in his role regulating crypto.
Related: Atkins SEC era sparks massive industry optimism, crypto execs speak out
The direction of the SEC under new leadership
“We’ve noticed that we don’t have to be as concerned […] about being accused of things that we’re not doing, like being broker-dealers for securities,” Exodus chief legal officer Veronica McGregor, who participated in the roundtable, told Cointelegraph on April 24.”It’s just a less scary regulatory environment in general. It is, however, still unclear what the ultimate regs are going to look like for crypto.”
The SEC crypto task force is scheduled to hold two more roundtables in May and June to discuss tokenization and decentralized finance, respectively. Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the task force, told Cointelegraph in March that she welcomed the opportunity to work with Atkins to “reorient the agency,” hinting at an SEC with regulations more favorable to the crypto industry.
In addition to the roundtables, the crypto task force has reported several meetings with digital asset firms to discuss various policies and considerations in developing a regulatory framework.
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
Nasdaq has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to hold digital assets to the same regulatory standards as securities if they constitute “stocks by any other name,” according to an April 25 comment letter.
The exchange said the US financial regulator needs to establish a clearer taxonomy for cryptocurrencies, including categorizing a portion of digital assets as “financial securities.” Those tokens, Nasdaq argued, should continue to be regulated “as they are regulated today regardless of tokenized form.”
“Whether it takes the form of a paper share, a digital share, or a token, an instrument’s underlying nature remains the same and it should be traded and regulated in the same ways,” the letter said.
It also proposed categorizing a portion of cryptocurrencies as “digital asset investment contracts,” to be subject to “light touch regulation” but still overseen by the SEC.
Related: Certain stablecoins aren’t securities, SEC says in new guidance
Regulatory U-turn
The SEC has dramatically pivoted its stance on cryptocurrency oversight since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
Under the leadership of former Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC took the position that practically all cryptocurrencies, with the exception of Bitcoin (BTC), represent investment contracts and therefore qualify as securities.
This stance led the agency to bring upwards of 100 lawsuits against crypto firms for alleged securities law violations.
However, under Trump nominee Paul Atkins, who was sworn in as chair on April 21 after a lengthy Senate confirmation, the SEC has claimed jurisdiction over a narrower segment of cryptocurrencies.
In February, the agency issued guidance stating that memecoins — if clearly identified as purely speculative assets with no intrinsic value — do not qualify as investment contracts pursuant to US law.
In April, the SEC said that stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to the US dollar — similarly do not qualify as securities if they are marketed solely as a means of making payments.
Integrating crypto into TradFi
In its April 21 letter, Nasdaq said existing financial infrastructure “can readily absorb digital assets by establishing the proper taxonomy and calibrating certain rules to reflect what is truly new and novel about digital assets.”
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) — a private US securities clearinghouse closely overseen by the SEC — has been laying the foundation for integrating blockchain technology into regulated financial markets.
In March, the DTCC committed to promoting Ethereum’s ERC-3643 standard for permissioned securities tokens.
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