Labour antisemitism row deepens as third politician ‘spoken to’ over meeting

Published

1 year ago

February 14, 2024

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A third Labour politician attended a meeting of activists at the centre of an antisemitism row within the party, Sky News understands.

Hyndburn councillor Munsif Dad, who leads the local authority’s Labour group, is thought to have been at the gathering where two parliamentary candidates are alleged to have made antisemitic remarks.

On Monday, Labour withdrew support from and suspended Azhar Ali, who is standing under their banner at the upcoming Rochdale by-election, after he allegedly blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for fuelling criticism of a pro-Palestinian Labour MP, and claimed Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land during discussions at the meeting.

Politics latest: Pressure mounts on Starmer

Then on Tuesday, former Labour MP for Hyndburn, Graham Jones – who is seeking to stand for the seat again at the next election – was suspended after allegedly referring to “f***ing Israel” at the same gathering, and saying UK citizens who volunteer to fight for the Israeli Defence Forces “should be locked up”.

Sky News understands Mr Dad has been “spoken to” by Labour officials, but it is not yet clear if he made any contribution to the meeting and no further action has been taken.

Mr Dad and the Labour Party have been contacted for statements.

Appearing on Sky News’ Breakfast programme, shadow defence secretary John Healy said he “didn’t know” why the councillor had been in attendance at the activist gathering, thought to have taken place in the weeks after 7 October attacks in Israel.

But the Labour MP told Kay Burley: “Where new information or evidence comes to light, as it did with Azhar Ali, as it has with Graham Jones, then the party will act and [Sir] Keir Starmer will act swiftly and decisively to make sure that our candidates and our MPs meet the very highest standards that the public have a right to expect and they deserve.“

Asked if antisemitism was a problem in the Labour Party in 2024, Mr Healey said it was “still a problem throughout our country”, adding: “Wherever there is evidence that there may be antisemitic comments or actions, we will investigate.

“We can’t guarantee that no one connected to the Labour Party will ever express something that is wrong or unacceptable.

“What we can guarantee is that if that happens, we will investigate and when necessary we will take action.”

The fallout from the meeting – first reported by the Daily Mail and Guido Fawkes – has seen pressure build on Sir Keir, who promised to “tear out antisemitism by its roots” when he took over the Labour Party in 2020.

He has faced criticism for not acting sooner over Mr Ali when on Sunday it was revealed the candidate said Israel deliberately allowed the Hamas atrocity to take place in order to give it the “green light” to invade Gaza.

Mr Ali, the leader of Lancashire County Council, issued an “unreserved” apology, and shadow cabinet ministers stood by him, claiming the parliamentary hopeful had been taken in by an online conspiracy theory and would work to rebuild trust with the Jewish community.

But when further remarks were published, Sir Keir and the party were forced to act.

The Labour leader told reporters on Tuesday that he had taken “decisive action” when new information came to light, and it was “unprecedented” to ditch a by-election candidate at this late stage.

But it is too late to replace Mr Ali in the Rochdale contest and he will still appear on the ballot paper as the Labour candidate – although the party has said he would be made to sit as an independent if he won the by-election.

Conservative minister Laura Farris told Sky News “it does actually blow my mind” how long it took Sir Keir to “decide that [Mr Ali’s remarks] were not compatible with becoming the Labour member of parliament, as he would have wished, for Rochdale”.

She also pledged if any antisemitic views were “brought to light” in the Tory party, they would “act swiftly and decisively”, adding: “There is no room for any sort of unacceptable, discriminatory attitudes. They are completely unacceptable.”

Former Labour MP and government adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann, warned when it came to the issue, “there will be more to come” from all sides due to “the growth of extremism and the growth of antisemitism” in the country.

“I’ve been speaking to the Jewish community constantly and the basic message is, look, leave us alone,” he added. “We’d just like to get on with our lives. Life is bad enough at the moment.

“And the Jewish community, ‘can you just get out of our hair’ is what they’re saying. We’re sick of it. We’re sick of being targeted and you know, it’s happening more and more every day.

“I’m not talking about Labour. I’m talking widely across communities as well. I’m seeing more examples of bad things going on with Jewish people being targeted.”

See below the full list of candidates for the Rochdale by-election and the political parties they represent:

Azhar Ali, (listed as Labour Party, but now removed as its candidate)
Mark Coleman, Independent
Simon Danczuk, Reform UK
Iain Donaldson, Liberal Democrats
Paul Ellison, The Conservative Party Candidate
George Galloway, Workers’ Party of Britain
Michael Howarth, Independent
William Howarth, Independent
Guy Otten, (listed as Green Party, but now removed as its candidate)
Ravin Subortna, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
David Tully, Independent

Politics

Canada ‘got it wrong’ labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec

Published

1 hour ago

May 14, 2025

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<div>Canada 'got it wrong' labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec</div>

Tanim Rasul, chief operating officer at Canadian crypto exchange NDAX, said Canada “got it wrong” categorizing stablecoins as securities in 2022, and the country needs to realize that every other regulatory regime is looking at stablecoins as payment instruments.

Rasul made the remarks during a panel on May 13 at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto, pointing to Europe’s crypto regulatory framework as a model for Canada to consider:

“I’m sure the regulators are wondering if this was the right choice to approach stablecoins as a security. […] I would just say, look at MiCA, look at the way they’re approaching stablecoins. It’s a payment instrument. It should be regulated as such.”

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) classified stablecoins as “securities and/or derivatives” in December 2022, following “recent events in the crypto market,” such as the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX just a month before.

Canada, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Stablecoin — *Canadian Web3 Regulation panel at Blockchain Futurist Conference. Source: Cointelegraph*

The agency elaborated on stablecoin rules in February and October of 2023, placing such tokens under the umbrella of “value-referenced crypto assets.”

Canada’s stance on digital assets led many top crypto companies, including Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Paxos, to scale back operations in the local market. Crypto exchange Gemini also announced exit plans in September 2024.

The regulatory setback, however, hasn’t stopped Canada’s digital asset market from flourishing. According to Grand View Research, the local crypto industry posted revenue of $224 million in 2024, higher than in previous years. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.6% until 2030, when it is forecast to reach $617.5 million in annual revenue.

Stablecoins have emerged as key crypto use case

Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to a fiat currency, have emerged as a key use case for digital assets. According to DefiLlama, the current market capitalization for all stablecoins is at $242.8 billion as of May 14, up 51.9% in the past 12 months.

Nation-states and economic blocs are increasingly working on stablecoin regulations to tackle the rising usage across the world. While the most used stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, there is demand for stablecoins pegged to other fiat currencies.

Magazine: Legal Panel: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Politics

CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Published

3 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Summer Mersinger, one of four commissioners currently serving at the US financial regulatory body Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will become the next CEO of the digital asset advocacy group the Blockchain Association (BA).

In a May 14 notice, the Blockchain Association said its current CEO, Kristin Smith, would step down for Mersinger on May 16, allowing an interim head of the group to work until the CFTC commissioner assumes the role on June 2. Though her term at the CFTC was expected to last until April 2028, the BA said Mersinger is set to leave the agency on May 30.

The departure of Mersinger, who has served in one of the CFTC’s Republican seats since 2022, opens the way for US President Donald Trump to nominate another member to the financial regulator. Rules require that no more than three commissioners belong to the same political party.

Like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC is one of the significant US financial regulators whose policies impact digital assets. Lawmakers in Congress are currently working to pass a market structure bill to clarify the roles each agency could take in overseeing and regulating crypto.

New leadership at the Blockchain Association had been expected since Smith announced her departure on April 1 to become the next president of the Solana Policy Institute. A spokesperson for the Blockchain Association had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Some of the biggest crypto firms in the US, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Chainlink Labs, are members of the Association. The organization “support[s] a future-forward, pro-innovation national policy and regulatory framework for the crypto economy,” according to its website.

Changing the leadership at a major US financial regulator

A nominee of former US President Joe Biden, Mersinger has called for standardized crypto-related policies and said the CFTC was the “ideal regulator for the cryptocurrency spot market.” Some expected she would lead the regulator following the election of Trump and the departure of then-CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, but Commissioner Caroline Pham took on the role in an acting capacity in January.

Trump chose former commissioner Brian Quintenz to chair the CFTC in February, but his nomination has not moved through the Senate for a vote in roughly three months. Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero reportedly said she plans to leave the agency once Quintenz is confirmed, potentially giving Trump the chance to nominate three new commissioners to fill the five-seat panel.

Any CFTC commissioner picked by the president needs a majority vote in the Senate to be confirmed for a five-year term or to fill in for a resigning member.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Politics

Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Published

7 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Bitcoin’s fluctuating correlation with US equities is raising questions about its role as a global safe-haven asset during periods of financial stress.

Bitcoin (BTC) exhibited a strong negative correlation with the US stock market when analyzing the short-term, seven-day trailing correlation, according to new research from blockchain data provider RedStone Oracles, shared exclusively with Cointelegraph.

However, RedStone said that the 30-day indicator signals a “variable correlation” between Bitcoin price and the S&P 500 index, with the correlation coefficient ranging from -0.2 to 0.4.

This fluctuating correlation suggests that Bitcoin “doesn’t consistently function as a true hedge for equities” due to its lack of a strong negative correlation below -0.3, which is needed for “reliable counter movement during market stress,” the report said.

The research suggests that while Bitcoin may not be a dependable hedge against stock market declines, it offers value as a portfolio diversifier.

This fluctuating dynamic signals that Bitcoin often moves independently from other assets, potentially offering additional returns while other assets are struggling. Still, Bitcoin has yet to mirror the safe-haven dynamics of gold and government bonds, RedStone suggests.

Bitcoin needs to “mature” before decoupling from stock market

While Bitcoin is poised to grow into a safe-haven asset in the future, the world’s first cryptocurrency still needs to “mature” as a global asset, according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer at RedStone.

“Bitcoin still needs to mature before decoupling from stock markets,” Kazmierczak told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Increased institutional adoption will absolutely help — we’re already seeing this effect with corporate treasury investments reducing Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility and with BlackRock repetitively praising BTC as an asset in a portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin will see growing recognition as a portfolio diversifier, with an annualized return of over 230% for the past five years, which “significantly outperformed” both stocks and traditional safe-haven assets, Kazmierczak said, adding that “even a small 1–5% Bitcoin allocation can meaningfully enhance a portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s declining volatility supports BTC’s growing maturity as a global financial asset. Bitcoin’s weekly volatility hit a 563-day low on April 30, a development that may signal more stable price action.

Bitcoin’s price volatility fell below the realized volatility of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, signaling that investors are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a long-term investment vehicle, Cointelegraph reported on May 13.