Keir Starmer accuses PM of ‘squatting in No 10’ after Rishi Sunak’s general election hint
Rishi Sunak has given the clearest hint yet about when he will call a general election, saying his “working assumption” is that it will happen in the second half of this year.
Speculation has been rife for months about when the prime minister will choose to go to the polls.
Politics latest: One date thought to be frontrunner for election this year
Technically, he can wait until December before calling an election, meaning voters would then cast their ballots in January 2025.
But Mr Sunak has narrowed down the timeframe for an election the polls suggest the Tories will lose, which would bring to an end 14 years in power under five prime ministers.
Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a youth centre in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, he said: “So, my working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year and in the meantime I’ve got lots that I want to get on with.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to a youth centre in Mansfield
The Conservative leader declined to rule out a May election categorically – but repeated his intentions to call one later in the year.
“I want to keep going, managing the economy well and cutting people’s taxes,” Mr Sunak said.
“But I also want to keep tackling illegal migration. So I’ve got lots to get on with and I’m determined to keep delivering for the British people.”
Both the Conservatives’ and Labour’s long election campaigns were well under way on Thursday, as both party leaders visited battleground areas.
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‘May election the worst kept secret in parliament’
Labour has claimed a spring vote is the “worst kept secret in parliament”, with party leader Sir Keir Starmer earlier saying in his own speech to voters in Bristol that he is “ready” for a general election whenever it is called.
Responding to Mr Sunak’s remarks which hinted at an autumn vote, Sir Keir accused the prime minister of “delaying” the inevitable.
He told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby: “People are crying out for change. And I say to the prime minister, what’s he hiding? If he’s not going to set a date, what’s he hiding from the public?
“This has serious implications for the country because he’s basically saying he’s going to be squatting for months and months in Downing Street, dithering and delaying.
“So if he’s not being clear, and I don’t think he’s setting a date, what’s he hiding?”
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‘What’s prime minister hiding from public?’
Asked whether he would prefer a vote in the first half of the year, Sir Keir said: “I would like to see an election as soon as possible.
“I think the vast majority of the public want to see an election as soon as possible, and the reason is that the choice now is to turn our back on 14 years of decline and usher in a decade of national renewal with hope and change.”
He added: “People can’t afford for the prime minister to be squatting for months on end this year.”
The Liberal Democrats have also been calling for Mr Sunak to hold the vote in May rather than trying to “cling on” to power for the rest of the year.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey accused Mr Sunak of “running scared” of a May election.
He said: “Squatter Sunak is holed up in Downing Street, desperately clinging on to power rather than facing the verdict of the British people.
“We need an election in spring, so that voters can finally get rid of this appalling and out-of-touch Conservative government.”
Analysis: PM will be hoping ‘squatting’ charge over election timing won’t stick
The prime minister has thoroughly stolen the thunder and headlines from Sir Keir Starmer’s new year speech with the revelation that his “working assumption” is that a general election will be held in the second half of the year.
Speculation in Westminster had been growing that the Tories were preparing to go to the polls in May – particularly after confirming over Christmas the spring budget would be delivered in March.
Many believed the strategy was for the chancellor to offer a generous series of tax cuts as a sweetening springboard into an early trip to the ballot box.
Pundits pointed out that this would avoid the embarrassing fallout from another drubbing at the local elections and a summer of small boat arrivals – and activists, it’s thought, would be more enthusiastic about pounding the pavements and knocking on doors in milder weather, particularly if they were doing so anyway on behalf of local council candidates.
But with Labour riding so consistently high in the polls and only one of his five pledges met (halving inflation), Rishi Sunak is clearly unconvinced by these arguments.
With the path to a Tory victory at any time of year so incredibly narrow, others believe the PM just wants to maximise his time in office. Indeed, speaking to reporters today he argues he’s still got plenty more to do in terms of “managing the economy well and cutting people’s taxes” as well as “tackling illegal migration”.
Delivering on illegal migration means successfully forcing his emergency Rwanda legislation through both houses of parliament, and past future legal challenges.
It’s the key challenge for Mr Sunak and his team at present; many advisors believe finally getting deportation flights off the ground, combined with a dramatic economic recovery, is perhaps his only real hope of clinging on to power at the next election.
Needless to say the opposition parties aren’t happy.
The Liberal Democrats yesterday called for a return to the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, to take away the PM’s power to call elections as the most opportune political moment. They’ve accused Mr Sunak of “bottling” the opportunity to call an election – with echoes of Gordon Brown’s perceived dithering in the autumn of 2007.
Both Sir Ed Davey and Sir Keir say Mr Sunak is “squatting” in Downing Street – with Sir Keir arguing that both he and the country want to see an election as soon as possible.
The PM will be hoping he’s set out his timetable early enough to avoid that charge sticking; but don’t expect the calls for an immediate national vote to calm down any time soon.
Reform UK has ruled out entering into any electoral pacts with the Tories.
Mr Sunak warned against voting for Reform UK amid fears the right-wing party could steal votes from the Conservatives.
He said: “A vote for anybody who’s not a Conservative candidate, a Conservative MP, is a vote for Keir Starmer in power.
“There’s only going to be two options for prime minister after the next election, it’s either going to be me or Keir Starmer. A vote for anyone who is not a Conservative is a vote for Keir Starmer in power.”
He added: “What’s the issue that has motivated a lot of these conversations? It’s illegal migration. So, what’s my track record? Well, I’m the first person to actually cut the numbers, and cut them not just by a little, but cut them by over a third in my first year in power.
“We’re going to pass our Rwanda Bill through parliament, get that scheme up and running, and that will provide the further deterrent we need to grip this once and for all.”
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.
Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race
Cryptocurrency firms and centralized exchanges are launching more traditional investment offerings, bridging the divide between traditional financial and digital assets.
With investors seeking more flexible product offerings under one platform, the “line is blurring” between traditional finance (TradFi) and the cryptocurrency space, as the two financial paradigms signal a “growing synergy,” according to Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange.
In the wider crypto space, Securitize partnered with Mantle protocol to launch an institutional fund that will generate yield on a basket of diverse cryptocurrencies, similar to how traditional index funds track a mix of stocks.
The developments come after crypto investor sentiment staged a significant recovery, moving from “fear” to “neutral” for the first time since January 2025.
Investor sentiment was bolstered after US President Donald Trump said that import tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially,” adopting a softer tone in negotiations for the first time since the reciprocal tariff announcement.
Crypto firms moving into Wall Street territory
Cryptocurrency firms and exchanges are increasingly moving into Wall Street territory, launching more traditional investment offerings and showcasing the increasing connection between crypto and traditional finance (TradFi).
“There’s a growing synergy between traditional financial investments and the emerging crypto space,” according to Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange.
“Crypto players are now checking out traditional finance as they see the opportunity to bridge it,” Chen told Cointelegraph.
“The lines are blurring. Investors want flexibility, and products that can straddle both worlds are naturally attractive,” Chen said. “Some players see TradFi as a safety net; others, like Bitget, see it as a launchpad for broader adoption.” She added:
“In a volatile market, integration is smarter than isolation.”
Securitize, Mantle launch institutional crypto fund
Tokenization platform Securitize partnered with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Mantle to launch an institutional fund designed to earn yield on a diverse basket of cryptocurrencies, the companies said.
Similar to how a traditional index fund tracks a mix of stocks, the Mantle Index Four (MI4) Fund aims to offer investors exposure to cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL), as well as stablecoins tracking the US dollar, Securitize said in an April 24 announcement.
The fund also integrates liquid staking tokens — including Mantle’s mETH, Bybit’s bbSOL, and Ethena’s USDe — in a bid to enhance returns with onchain yield, according to the announcement.
The launch comes as retail and institutions alike increase exposure to cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, as a hedge amid escalating macroeconomic uncertainty.
Mantra says CEO has begun the process of burning his 150 million OM tokens
Mantra founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin has started unstaking 150 million of his Mantra (OM) tokens in preparation for sending them to a burn address in an attempt to restore the token’s value by tightening supply.
Mantra announced on April 21 that the unstaking process had begun, and would be completed by April 29, at which point Mullin’s Mantra (OM) tokens will be sent to the burn address and permanently removed from circulating supply.
Mullin said it was a “first step in rebuilding trust with the community, but far from the last.”
Mantra said it was also in talks with “key ecosystem partners” about burning a further 150 million OM to bring the total burn amount to 300 million.
With 150 million fewer OM, Mantra’s total supply will decline to 1.67 billion, and its number of staked tokens will drop by over 26% to 421.8 million OM from 571.8 million OM.
Symbiotic raises $29 million for staking-based universal coordination layer
Cryptocurrency staking protocol Symbiotic closed a $29 million Series A funding round led by Web3-focused investment firms, including Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures, to support the launch of a new economic coordination layer for blockchain security.
The round included more than 100 angel investors, with participation by major industry players Aave, Polygon and StarkWare, the company said in an April 23 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
The closing of the funding round also marks the launch of Symbiotic’s Universal Staking Framework, which aims to be an economic coordination layer that bolsters blockchain security via staking.
The new staking layer enables the use of any combination of cryptocurrencies to secure networks, including monolithic and modular layer-1 and layer-2 blockchains, the announcement said.
“We’ve created a modular framework that lets protocols evolve security models over time while efficiently coordinating risk,” Misha Putiatin, co-founder of Symbiotic, told Cointelegraph. “This empowers protocols at every stage of their lifecycle to evolve their security models seamlessly without rebuilding infrastructure.”
SEC delays decision on Polkadot ETF
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed a decision on whether to approve a proposed exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding Polkadot’s native token, regulatory filings show.
According to an April 24 filing, the regulator has extended its deadline for a final ruling until June 11, nearly four months after the Nasdaq sought permission to list Grayscale Polkadot Trust on Feb. 24.
Grayscale’s ETF filing adds to a roster of about 70 proposed ETFs awaiting SEC approval, including funds holding altcoins, memecoins and crypto-related financial derivatives, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Asset managers are pitching ETFs for “[e]verything from XRP, Litecoin and Solana to Penguins, Doge and 2x Melania and everything in between,” Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said in an April 21 post on the X platform. Asset manager 21Shares is also awaiting permission to list its own Polkadot ETF.
DeFi market overview
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.
The Official Trump (TRUMP) token rose over 73% as the week’s biggest gainer, after the president announced an exclusive in-person dinner for the top tokenholders. The Sui (SUI) token rose over 69% as the week’s second-best performing token.
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
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