Ex-Tory MP Scott Benton to appeal proposed suspension over lobbying scandal

Published

1 year ago

December 15, 2023

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Former Conservative MP Scott Benton has said he will appeal his recommended suspension from parliament and intends to make a formal complaint over it.

The Blackpool MP was suspended from the parliamentary Tory party in April after being caught in an undercover sting by The Times suggesting he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money.

Following an investigation into the matter, the Committee on Standards on Thursday recommended a 35-day suspension from the House of Commons, paving the way for a potential by-election.

The committee said Mr Benton committed an “extremely serious breach” of the rules by giving the message “he was corrupt and ‘for sale’ and that so were many other Members of the House”.

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Responding for the first time to the Standards report, Mr Benton said: “I will today be submitting a formal complaint to the House Authorities, as well as appealing the decision of the committee in due course.”

In his statement, Mr Benton claimed the report’s findings had been leaked to journalists the night before it was due to be published.

He said while he was “sworn to secrecy” and told he could only read the judgment an hour before it would be made public on Thursday morning, the committee “did not adhere to its own standards and principles”.

He said: “The night before the report was published, people on the Committee on Standards leaked contents of the report to a journalist and I was contacted on the evening before publication repeatedly by members of the press. This was not the first such leak whilst the investigation was taking place.

“This process is designed to be open, fair, honest and transparent so the public and MPs can have trust in the process.

“This trust has been breached by Members of the Committee. I can’t have faith in a standards process that doesn’t adhere to its own ethics, standards and principles.”

He claimed that the report into his conduct “makes several pivotal statements that are completely factually inaccurate”.

“If those that judge MPs are not being open-minded, fair and proportionate in the way that they are handling evidence or examining witnesses, our democracy is under threat,” he said.

Mr Benton will submit an appeal to the Independent Expert Panel (IEP), the body that sits above the Parliamentary Standards Committee.

It kicks the potential for a by-election into the long-grass, as the IEP will now review the standards committee’s findings before any action is taken.

A suspension of more than 10 days – if passed by a vote in the Commons – means that a recall petition is triggered, paving the way for a by-election if 10% of constituents sign it.

Mr Benton was elected as the Tory MP for Blackpool South in 2019, and has a majority of just 3,690. It had been a Labour seat since 1997 – but was Conservative before that

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have both overturned five-figure majorities in recent by-elections.

The committee highlighted aggravating factors in their decision about Mr Benton – including him providing an “incomplete and incorrect picture of what had transpired”.

They also noted that it was a “repeat offence, or indication that the offence was part of a pattern of behaviour”.

Mr Benton met undercover reporters from The Times who were posing as employees of a fake lobbying company.

The chair of the all-party parliamentary group for betting and gaming suggested he would be happy to be paid between £2,000 and £4,000 a month to help the fake company – complete with a logo, website and office addresses in London and Chennai in India.

There are strict rules that prevent MPs from carrying out paid lobbying or advising how to influence parliament.

Mr Benton ultimately did not accept any financial payment arising from the meeting.

Politics

US House follows Senate in passing resolution to kill IRS DeFi broker rule

Published

8 hours ago

March 12, 2025

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US House follows Senate in passing resolution to kill IRS DeFi broker rule

The US House of Representatives has voted in favor of nullifying a rule that would have required decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report to the Internal Revenue Service.

On March 11, the House of Representatives voted 292 for and 132 against a motion to repeal the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule that aimed to expand existing IRS reporting requirements to crypto.

All 132 votes to keep the rule were Democrats. However, 76 of those in the party joined the Republican vote to repeal it.

This follows the US Senate’s March 4 vote on the motion to repeal, which saw it pass with a vote of 70 to 27.

The rule would force DeFi platforms, such as decentralized exchanges, to disclose gross proceeds from crypto sales, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.

Speaking after the vote, Republican Representative Mike Carey, who submitted the repeal motion, said, “The DeFi broker rule invades the privacy of tens of millions of Americans, hinders the development of an important new industry in the United States and would overwhelm the IRS.”

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill also applauded the overturning of the rule, calling it “a clear example of government overreach that threatens to push American digital asset development overseas.”

The resolution will need to pass another Senate vote before being sent to President Donald Trump, who has signaled he’d support it.

Those opposing the rule repeal included Democrat Representative Lloyd Doggett, who said getting a “special interest exemption” from IRS disclosures “makes tax evasion and money laundering so much easier for wealthy Republican donors who have been using these decentralized exchanges.”

He claimed killing the rule would create a “loophole that would be exploited by wealthy tax cheats, drug traffickers and terrorist financiers.”

In early March, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said the administration would support congressional efforts to rescind the DeFi broker rule.

At the time, officials from the Office of Management and Budget wrote “This rule … would stifle American innovation and raise privacy concerns over the sharing of taxpayers’ personal information, while imposing an unprecedented compliance burden on American DeFi companies.”

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Cboe seeks to add staking to Fidelity’s Ether ETF

Published

15 hours ago

March 11, 2025

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Cboe seeks to add staking to Fidelity’s Ether ETF

Securities exchange Cboe BZX is seeking permission from US regulators to incorporate staking into Fidelity’s Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a March 11 filing.

The filing marks Cboe’s latest attempt to support staking for the Ether (ETH) funds traded on its US exchange.

Cboe’s proposed rule change would allow Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) to “stake, or cause to be staked, all or a portion of the Trust’s ether through one or more trusted staking providers,” the filing said.

The Fidelity Ethereum Fund is among the most popular Ether ETFs, with nearly $1 billion in assets under management, according to data from VettaFi.

In February, Cboe asked permission to add staking to another Ether ETF, the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF.

Staking Ether enhances returns and involves posting ETH as collateral with a validator in exchange for rewards.

As of March 11, staking Ether yields approximately 3.3% APR, denominated in ETH, according to Staking Rewards.

Other popular cryptocurrencies, including Solana (SOL), also feature staking mechanisms.

Proposed rule changes

The US Securities and Exchange Commission must still approve Cboe’s proposed rule changes before staking can commence.

In February, the SEC acknowledged more than a dozen exchange filings related to cryptocurrency ETFs, according to records.

The SEC’s acknowledgments highlight how the agency has softened its stance on crypto since US President Donald Trump started his second term on Jan. 20.

In addition to staking, the filings, submitted by Cboe and other exchanges, addressed proposed rule changes concerning options, in-kind redemptions and new types of altcoin funds.

Cboe has also asked permission to list Canary and WisdomTree’s proposed XRP (XRP) ETFs and support in-kind creations and redemptions for Fidelity’s Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH ETFs, among other proposed changes.

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Politics

Texas lawmaker seeks to cap state’s proposed BTC purchases at $250M

Published

16 hours ago

March 11, 2025

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Texas lawmaker seeks to cap state’s proposed BTC purchases at 0M

A member of the Texas legislature has proposed a bill that could limit the amount local and state authorities invest in cryptocurrency as a reserve asset.

In a bill filed on March 10, Texas Representative Ron Reynolds proposed the state’s comptroller not be allowed to invest more than $250 million of its Economic Stabilization Fund — otherwise known as a “rainy day” fund — in Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies. The legislation also suggested that Texas municipalities or counties could not invest more than $10 million in crypto.

Law, Texas, Bitcoin Reserve — *HB 4258, filed by Texas Representative Ron Reynolds. Source:* *Texas legislature*

The proposed bill followed the Texas Senate passing legislation on March 6 to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the state. The SB 21 bill seemingly could allow the Texas comptroller to have no limit on purchasing BTC for a reserve, based on the most recent draft.

The plan for a strategic Bitcoin reserve in Texas was one of many separate bills proposed in US state governments following the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers winning control of the US House of Representatives and Senate. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in January that the state’s legislative priorities for 2025 would include a proposal to establish a Texas Bitcoin Reserve.

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It’s unclear if Rep. Reynolds, a Democrat, intended to support the BTC reserve bill introduced by State Senator Charles Schwertner, a Republican, or propose restrictions in the event the legislation becomes law. If passed and signed by Governor Greg Abbott, the bill would take effect on Sept. 1. Cointelegraph reached out to Rep. Reynolds’ office for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Though Trump signed an executive order on March 7 to create a federal “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and “Digital Asset Stockpile,” many legal experts have questioned the US president’s authority to enact specific policies through EOs. Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis reintroduced legislation on March 11 to codify the proposed BTC reserve into law in the Senate.

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