Rwanda bill: ‘We can as a nation do better’, says Archbishop of Canterbury

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1 year ago

January 29, 2024

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has again slammed the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, telling the House of Lords: “We can as a nation do better than this bill.”

Speaking in the upper chamber, the Most Rev Justin Welby said the government was “continuing to seek good objectives in the wrong way”, leading the country down a “damaging path” by insisting on pushing forward with its legislation.

And he accused ministers of seeking to “outsource our legal and moral responsibilities for refugees and asylum seekers”.

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MPs approved the Rwanda bill earlier this month, which aims to deport asylum seekers coming to the UK on small boats to the African nation as a deterrent from making Channel crossings.

But Rishi Sunak faced a backlash from his own benches, with around 60 Tory rebels voting to toughen up the law and 11 of his MPs voting the whole bill down.

Now it is facing its next parliamentary hurdle with the scrutiny of peers, many of whom have already publicly spoken out against the bill – especially around its ability to disapply human rights law and to ignore rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights to halt deportation flights.

The plan has already faced its first defeat in the upper chamber, after Lords voted against the ratification of the UK’s new treaty with the country – part of the government’s plan to address the fears of the Supreme Court, who ruled the scheme unlawful late last year.

The bill covering the overall plan is expected to pass its second reading this evening, mostly due to a convention for the unelected chamber not to create barriers to legislation from elected MPs at this stage.

But there is a plot by Liberal Democrat peers – who total 80 in the Lords – to ignore the practice and vote against it anyway.

And it is not stopping prominent figures in the Lords from speaking out against the plan.

Mr Welby, who as one of the 26 bishops of the Church of England is allowed to sit in the Lords, said the Rwanda bill “obscures the truth that all people, asylum seekers included, are of great value”.

He added: “It is damaging for asylum seekers in need of protection and safe and legal routes to be heard. It is damaging for this country’s reputation… It is damaging in respect of constitutional principles and the rule of law.

“And most of all, my lords, it is damaging for our nation’s unity in a time when the greatest issues of war, peace, defence and security need us to be united.”

Mr Welby said the “right way forward though is to enable the unity on ends to be translated into a unity on means”, adding: “The challenge of migration is… long term and global, and so must our response be.

“We need a wider strategy… for refugee policy which involves international cooperation and equips us for the far greater migration flows, perhaps 10 times greater, in the coming decades as a result of conflict and climate change and poverty

“Instead this bill offers only ad-hoc one off approaches.”

While Mr Welby said he would not vote against the bill at second reading, he and his spiritual colleagues take their “revising role seriously”.

Welby preaches to the converted

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

To a majority of members of the House of Lords, the government’s Rwanda bill is an unholy abomination.

Last week, their lordships voted by 214 votes to 171, a majority of 43, to delay ratification of the Rwanda treaty until safeguards have been implemented.

And in his speech during the second reading debate on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, Mr Welby accused Rishi Sunak of a “pick and choose approach” to international law.

The archbishop began his speech by telling peers the heart of the Christian tradition was that strangers were welcomed.

“Jesus said ‘I was a stranger and you invited me in’,” he said.

And there were loud cries of “hear, hear!” from around the Lords’ chamber when the Archbishop declared: “We can as a nation do better than this bill.”

No-one could accuse the archbishop of contradicting himself on this issue. He led opposition in the Lords to the Illegal Migration Bill, which resulted in a series of defeats for the government.

He has previously described the Rwanda policy as “against the judgement of God” and he served notice in this debate that he’s prepared to play a full part in their lordships’ attempts to pull the Rwanda bill apart in the coming weeks.

Rishi Sunak has urged peers not to block “the will of the people”.

But Lord Welby’s argument, essentially, is that the will of God trumps the will of the people. And many of their lordships appear to agree.

Speaking for the government, Tory minister and Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Dirleton stood by the bill, saying it was a “shared objective” of peers to “stop the boats” and “doing nothing is not an option”.

He said: “There is nothing generous about letting the status quo continue, that would only serve the deplorable people smugglers to facilitate these dangerous crossings.

“It would only put more lives at risk and it would continue to strain our communities and our public services.”

But there were jeers from some peers when Lord Dirleton claimed the new legislation made it clear Rwanda was “a safe country”, and further unsettled noises when he said, while “novel”, the provisions in the bill could be implemented “in line with both our domestic law and our international obligations”.

Labour’s shadow minister, Lord Ponsonby, outlined his party’s opposition to the bill, telling peers: “This is the third time in as many years that the government has asked this house to consider legislation to stop boat journeys and to reform the asylum system.

“The third year of being presented with increasingly rushed, unworkable and inhumane solutions to the problem of small boats and asylum.”

But despite Labour’s issues – especially over the bill “threatening the UK’s compliance with international law” – Labour said it would not join the Lib Dems in voting it down at this stage.

However, the peer leading the plan to vote down the bill today, former leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, Lord German, said: “The treatment of asylum seekers and refugees… is completely contrary to how we should be acting as a country with a reputation for protecting individuals rights and freedoms where the rule of law is upheld.

“It was the settled will of this house last week that the treaty cannot yet by ratified, so how can this house consent to a bill which relies on that treaty having the approval of this house?”

Politics

EU could fine Elon Musk’s X $1B over illicit content, disinformation

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5 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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EU could fine Elon Musk’s X B over illicit content, disinformation

European Union regulators are reportedly mulling a $1 billion fine against Elon Musk’s X, taking into account revenue from his other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, according to The New York Times.

EU regulators allege that X has violated the Digital Services Act and will use a section of the act to calculate a fine based on revenue that includes other companies Musk controls, according to an April 3 report by the newspaper, which cited four people with knowledge of the plan.

Under the Digital Services Act, which came into law in October 2022 to police social media companies and “prevent illegal and harmful activities online,” companies can be fined up to 6% of global revenue for violations.

A spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, declined to comment on this case to The New York Times but did say it would “continue to enforce our laws fairly and without discrimination toward all companies operating in the EU.”

In a statement, X’s Global Government Affairs team said that if the reports about the EU’s plans are accurate, it “represents an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech.”

“X has gone above and beyond to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act, and we will use every option at our disposal to defend our business, keep our users safe, and protect freedom of speech in Europe,” X’s global government affairs team said.

European Union, Elon Musk — *Source:* *Global Government Affairs*

Along with the fine, the EU regulators could reportedly demand product changes at X, with the full scope of any penalties to be announced in the coming months.

Still, a settlement could be reached if the social media platform agrees to changes that satisfy regulators, according to the Times.

One of the officials who spoke to the Times also said that X is facing a second investigation alleging the platform’s approach to policing user-generated content has made it a hub of illegal hate speech and disinformation, which could result in more penalties.

X EU investigation ongoing since 2023

The EU investigation began in 2023. A preliminary ruling in July 2024 found X had violated the Digital Services Act by refusing to provide data to outside researchers, provide adequate transparency about advertisers, or verify the authenticity of users who have a verified account.

X responded to the ruling with hundreds of points of dispute, and Musk said at the time he was offered a deal, alleging that EU regulators told him if he secretly suppressed certain content, X would escape fines.

Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner for internal market, said in a July 12 X post in 2024 that there was no secret deal and that X’s team had asked for the “Commission to explain the process for settlement and to clarify our concerns,” and its response was in line with “established regulatory procedures.”

Musk replied he was looking “forward to a very public battle in court so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”

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Coinbase Institutional files for XRP futures trading with CFTC

Published

5 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Coinbase Institutional files for XRP futures trading with CFTC

US crypto exchange Coinbase has filed with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch futures contracts for Ripple’s XRP token.

“We’re excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify XRP futures — bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets,” stated Coinbase Institutional on April 3.

The firm added that it anticipates the contract going live on April 21.

According to the certification filing, the XRP (XRP) futures contract will be a monthly cash-settled and margined contract trading under the symbol XRL.

The contract tracks XRP’s price and is settled in US dollars. Each contract represents 10,000 XRP, currently worth about $20,000 at $2 per token.

Contracts can be traded for the current month and two months ahead, and trading will be paused as a safety measure if spot XRP prices move more than 10% in an hour.

“The exchange has spoken with FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) and market participants who support the decision to launch a XRP contract,” the firm stated.

Coinbase is not the first to launch XRP futures in the United States. In March, Chicago-based crypto exchange Bitnomial announced the launch of the “first-ever CFTC-regulated XRP futures in the US.”

XRP futures trading is available on many of the world’s leading centralized crypto exchanges, such as Binance, OKX, Bybit and BitMEX.

Funding rates remain negative

In late March, Cointelegraph reported that XRP derivatives’ funding rates had flipped negative as investor sentiment turned bearish.

Funding rates are periodic payments between traders in perpetual futures markets that help keep the futures price aligned with the spot price. Positive funding rates mean that long traders (buyers) pay short traders, while negative funding rates mean short traders (sellers) pay long traders.

When funding rates go negative, it means short traders are willing to pay a premium to maintain their positions, indicating strong conviction from bearish derivatives traders.

XRP funding rates remained negative on major derivatives exchanges as of April 4, according to CoinGlass.

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Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to advise Kyrgyzstan on blockchain tech

Published

8 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to advise Kyrgyzstan on blockchain tech

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao will begin advising the Kyrgyz Republic on blockchain and crypto-related regulation and tech after signing a memorandum of understanding with the country’s foreign investment agency.

“I officially and unofficially advise a few governments on their crypto regulatory frameworks and blockchain solutions for gov efficiency, expanding blockchain to more than trading,” the crypto entrepreneur said in an April 3 X post, adding that he finds this work “extremely meaningful.”

His comments came in response to an earlier X post from Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov announcing that Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency (NIA) had signed a memorandum with CZ to provide technical expertise and consulting services for the Central Asian country.

The NIA is responsible for promoting foreign investments and assisting international companies in identifying business opportunities within the country.

“This cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening technological infrastructure, implementing innovative solutions, and preparing highly qualified specialists in blockchain technologies, virtual asset management, and cybersecurity,” Zhaparov said.

The Kyrgyzstan president added: “such initiatives are crucial for the sustainable growth of the economy and the security of virtual assets, ultimately generating new opportunities for businesses and society as a whole.”

Kyrgyzstan, which officially changed its name from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Kyrgyz Republic in 1993, is a mountainous, land-locked country.

It is considered well-suited for crypto mining operations due to its abundant renewable energy resources, much of which is underutilized.

Over 30% of Kyrgyzstan’s total energy supply comes from hydroelectric power plants, but only 10% of the country’s potential hydropower has been developed, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

CZ has met with several other state officials in Asia

Malaysia also recently tapped CZ for guidance on crypto-related matters, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meeting him personally in January.

CZ has also met with officials in the UAE and Bitcoin-stacking country Bhutan — however, it isn’t clear what those meetings entailed.

CZ’s latest pursuits come a little over six months after he was released from a four-month prison sentence in the US for violating several anti-money laundering laws.

Since being released, CZ has made investments in blockchain tech, artificial intelligence and biotechnology companies.

CZ also recently donated 1,000 BNB (BNB) — worth almost $600,000 — to support earthquake relief efforts in Thailand and Myanmar after the natural disaster in late April.

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