Labour’s latest Rishi Sunak attack ad lands on Tory-supporting website Conservative Home within hours

Published

1 year ago

January 5, 2024

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Labour has launched a new attack ad against Rishi Sunak – and it has ended up on the Tory-supporting Conservative Home website.

In the ad, which was launched as Labour visited the Conservative-held seat of Wellingborough ahead of the upcoming by-election there, the party claims the government had left working people with a “raw deal” because of hidden tax rises.

It claims that the benefit felt by cuts to national insurance, which will take effect from tomorrow, will be effectively cancelled out by the fact that frozen income tax and national insurance thresholds have drawn people into higher tax bands.

The poster was unveiled on a shopfront and ad van as Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves joined shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth in Wellingborough, where the former MP Peter Bone was ousted for breaching the MPs’ code of conduct.

The ad will also be published online and in regional newspapers across the country.

By Friday afternoon, the ad, which is presented in the style of a mock shopping deal advert, had already appeared on the Conservative Home website, which supports Mr Sunak’s party and is influential with grassroots Tory activists.

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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the autumn statement that national insurance would be cut by two percentage points from 12% to 10% from 6 January – saving those on an average salary of £35,000 over £450 a year.

Mr Hunt also abolished NI payments for the self-employed, known as class two national insurance, to recognise the government “values their work”.

But Ms Reeves said that despite the changes in the autumn statement, “for every 10p that they have increased taxes on working people, they are only giving 2p back” – something she called a “drop in the ocean”.

She claimed the average family was paying £1,200 extra tax this year “because of choices by Rishi Sunak and this Conservative government”, adding: “Never have people paid so much in tax and got so little in return in the form of public services.”

The government’s policy is to keep income tax and national insurance thresholds frozen until 2028, meaning millions of workers will be pushed into higher tax bands because of inflation.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has so far refused to commit to unfreezing tax thresholds if his party wins the next general election – saying he won’t make promises he can’t keep – but that he does want to “lower the burden of working people”.

The Liberal Democrats have also highlighted the impact of frozen tax thresholds on the public, with its research suggesting that the combined impact of taxes, mortgage rises and food inflation could cost the average household more than £4,700.

Labour’s new attack comes as the main parties gear up for what is predicted to be a long and fractious campaign for the general election, which the prime minister has hinted will take place in the autumn of this year.

Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a youth centre in Nottinghamshire on Thursday, Mr Sunak said his “working assumption” was that the country would have a general election “in the second half of this year”, adding: “And in the meantime I’ve got lots that I want to get on with.”

Responding to Mr Sunak’s remarks which hinted at an autumn vote, Sir Keir accused the prime minister of “delaying” the inevitable and asked: “What is he hiding from the public?”

He told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that he would “like to see an election as soon as possible”, adding: “People can’t afford for the prime minister to be squatting for months on end this year.”

Deputy Conservative Party chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith said: “The Labour Party have admitted they won’t cut taxes – instead their £28bn unfunded spending will result in thousands of pounds of tax rises for the British people.

“Tomorrow we will deliver the biggest tax cut to National Insurance in modern history for 27 million workers, before we go further and cut taxes for the self-employed because of the long-term decisions we have taken to have inflation and strengthen the economy.”

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US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

Published

6 hours ago

April 17, 2025

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US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

A US federal judge has agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.

Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.

He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.

Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.

The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.”

The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.

“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated.

DeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker rule

Meanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16.

“The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing.

The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.

On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.

It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.

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Politics

Panama’s capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees

Published

14 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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<div>Panama's capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees</div>

Panama’s capital city will accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, including bus tickets and permits, Panama City mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on April 15, joining a growing list of jurisdictions globally that have voted to accept such payments.

Panama City will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Circle’s USDC (USDC), and Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin for payment once the crypto-to-fiat payment rails are established, Mizrachi posted on the X platform.

Mizrachi said previous administrations attempted to push through similar legislation but failed to overcome stipulations requiring the local government to accept funds denominated in US dollars.

In a translated statement, the Panama City mayor said that the local government partnered with a bank that will immediately convert any digital assets received into US dollars, allowing the municipality to accept crypto without introducing new legislation.

Panama City joins a growing list of global jurisdictions on the municipal and state level accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes, exploring Bitcoin strategic reserves to protect public treasuries from inflation and passing pro-crypto policies to attract investment.

Taxes, Panama, Bitcoin Adoption — *Source:* *Mayer Mizrachi*

Municipalities and states embrace digital assets

Several municipalities and territories around the globe already accept crypto for tax payments or are exploring various implementations of blockchain technology for government spending.

The US state of Colorado started accepting crypto payments for taxes in September 2022. Much like Panama City said it will do, Colorado immediately converts the crypto to fiat.

In December 2023, the city of Lugano, Switzerland, announced taxes and city fees could be paid in Bitcoin, which was one of the developments that earned it the reputation of being a globally recognized Bitcoin city.

The city council of Vancouver, Canada, passed a motion to become “Bitcoin-friendly city” in December 2024. As part of that motion, the Vancouver local government will explore integrating BTC into the financial system, including tax payments.

North Carolina lawmaker Neal Jackson introduced legislation titled “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act” on April 10. If passed, the bill will recognize cryptocurrencies as an official form of payment that can be used to pay taxes.

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Politics

Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Published

16 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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<div>Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation</div>

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal” following a difficult “wave of failures and frauds,” he said.

Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Powell delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago. Source: Bloomberg Television

During crypto’s difficult years, which culminated in 2022 and 2023 with several high-profile business failures, the Fed “worked with Congress to try to get a […] legal framework for stablecoins, which would have been a nice place to start,” said Powell. “We were not successful.”

“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into more mainstreaming of that whole sector, so Congress is again looking […] at a legal framework for stablecoins,” he said.

“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” said Powell.

This isn’t the first time Powell acknowledged the need for stablecoin legislation. In June 2023, the Fed boss told the House Financial Services Committee that stablecoins were “a form of money” that requires “robust” federal oversight.

Support for stablecoin legislation is growing

The election of US President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of pro-crypto appointments and policy shifts that could make America a digital asset superpower.

Washington’s formal embrace of cryptocurrency began earlier this year when Trump established the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, with Bo Hines as the executive director.

Hines told a digital asset summit in New York last month that a comprehensive stablecoin bill was a top priority for the current administration. After the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act, a final stablecoin bill could arrive at the president’s desk “in the next two months,” said Hines.

Bo Hines (right) speaks of “imminent” stablecoin legislation at the Digital Asset Summit on March 18. Source: Cointelegraph

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are by far the most popular tokens used for remittances and cryptocurrency trading.

The combined value of all stablecoins is currently $227 billion, according to RWA.xyz. The dollar-pegged USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) account for more than 88% of the total market.

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