From bodyguards to death threats – the real impact of chaos in the Commons

Published

1 year ago

February 23, 2024

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The first real crisis of Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s time as Speaker was on full display as he was forced to apologise for how a debate on Gaza descended into chaos.

While he expressed regret for how his decision to allow a Labour amendment on the SNP’s ceasefire motion had angered MPs, he made clear it was motivated by a regard for their safety – an issue that’s become more pressing since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

Politics latest: Starmer denies threatening Speaker

Sky News has spent the day talking to MPs and their staff about their experiences – ranging from thousands of aggressive emails landing in their inboxes, to protests outside constituency offices that have left some so afraid that they have to work from home.

Ever since tensions over Brexit, MPs have been entitled to panic alarms in their constituency offices to notify the local police force if they are in danger.

And as part of Operation Bridger – activated following the murder of Tory backbencher Sir David Amess – police email staff every Monday to get an itinerary from each MP so they know their whereabouts and of any public-facing events.

‘It’s starting to get him down’

One Labour staffer told us how they now felt like they acted as a “bodyguard” for their MP.

“I’ve started to walk him home, so I’m there to protect him,” they said.

“I walk five steps in front, and you do act as a bit of a bodyguard. I see it as part of the job now.”

The same staffer said the MP they worked for had now started to report tweets that labelled him a “fascist” with “blood on his hands”.

“I think it’s starting to get him down,” they said.

“Before the vote he warned us all on WhatsApp that social media and the parliamentary inbox would be ridiculous for the next 48 hours.”

Death threats have ‘become normal’

Before the chaos in parliament unfolded yesterday, one MP told Sky News they had already received a death threat.

“We are all getting this – it’s become normal for most controversial votes now,” they said.

Last November, when Sir Keir Starmer suffered the resignation of eight shadow ministers who voted for an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire, a protest was held outside the constituency office of one MP and the effigy of a body, along with body bags, was left outside.

At another constituency office, protesters have taken pictures and filmed staff entering and leaving the premises while directing verbal abuse at them.

The situation has become so serious that Labour staff members have been encouraged to apply for a safe gadget, also known as a lone worker gadget, which allows the user to notify police when they feel threatened.

‘The fears of MPs are real’

Former minister and Tory MP Paul Scully said the “security fears of MPs were real” on Wednesday night, and as things grew more “febrile” in the Commons, there was “genuine anger” about what the consequences could be.

“I was pretty anxious when I left parliament last night,” he told Sky News.

“Last time there was a vote on a ceasefire, one of my colleagues in the Lords got really triggered by antisemitic abuse and three cameras being shoved in his face on a tube platform.

“The protests and abuse has just escalated.

“When things like last night happen in the Commons, it is just a tinderbox.”

‘Security has had to be increased’

Senior Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge told Sky News that Muslim MPs in her party were having a “terrible, terrible time” in particular, as rows over whether to back a ceasefire raged on – and voters wanted them to take a stand.

“Security has had to be increased and people have been more guarded,” she added.

But Dame Margaret backed Sir Lindsay’s attempts to widen the debate and his drive to make MPs’ safety a “priority”.

The Jewish MP said he “talked about it a lot in the early days” when he was deputy speaker, and he was “always the person to go to” when she faced antisemitic abuse during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure leading the Labour Party.

“If you are going to have debate, shouldn’t you put it in context and let democracy prevail?” she added.

‘He has given the impression of giving in to the mob’

However, former defence minister and Tory MP, Sir Alec Shelbrooke, said the Speaker’s actions should not be dictated by external forces.

“In my opinion, he has given in – or has given the impression that he has given in – to the rule of the mob,” he told Sky News.

“I believe he has made the lives of MPs less safe, which I categorically know was not his intention.”

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, whose mother is Palestinian, said she was subject to some racist comments after last night’s parliamentary display.

But she showed some sympathy for Sir Lindsay, telling Sky News he was “put in an impossible position by a purposefully divisive motion from the SNP”.

The MP said the “core issue” was “the lack of any co-ordination between opposition parties before the debate”, adding: “We tried to coordinate with the SNP, but they didn’t listen to us.

“We didn’t have any idea what Labour were going to do.

“And meanwhile we managed to make something so serious that affects not just Palestinians and Israelis but our streets as well into something about us.”

Politics

Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO

Published

8 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO

Stablecoins are the single best tool for the United States government to maintain the US dollar’s hegemony in global financial markets, according to LayerZero Labs CEO and founder Bryan Pellegrino.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, the CEO of LayerZero Labs, which created the LayerZero interoperability protocol recently chosen by Wyoming to be the distribution partner for the Wyoming stablecoin, said that the cross-border accessibility of dollar-pegged tokens makes them an obvious choice to drive US dollar demand. Pellegrino added:

“Stablecoins for the US dollar are the single best tool — the last Trojan Horse or vampire attack on every single other currency in the world — whether it is Argentina, whether it is Venezuela, whether it is all of the countries that have massive inflation.”

The CEO said he expects support for stablecoins on both the federal and state levels to grow because of the obvious boost stablecoins give to the US dollar in foreign exchange markets and the financial moat stablecoin-driven demand will create around the US dollar’s global reserve currency status.

Dollar, US Government, Stablecoin — *Stablecoin market overview. Source:* *RWA.XYZ*

US government looks to stablecoins to protect US dollar

Pellegrino cited Tether’s emerging role as one of the largest buyers of US Treasury bills in the world as evidence of the demand for US debt instruments from stablecoin issuers.

Tether recently became the seventh-largest holder of US Treasuries, beating out Canada, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would leverage stablecoins to extend US dollar hegemony and indicated this would be a top priority for officials in 2025.

According to a 2023 report from Chainalysis, over 50% of all the digital asset value transferred to countries in the Latin American region, including Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela was denominated in stablecoins.

The low transaction fees, relative stability, and near-instant settlement times for dollar-pegged stablecoins make these real-world tokenized assets ideal for remittances and stores of value for residents in developing countries suffering from high inflation and capital controls.

Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins

Politics

CFPB likely to step back from crypto regulation — Attorney

Published

9 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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CFPB likely to step back from crypto regulation — Attorney

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will likely see a reduced role in crypto regulations as other federal agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and state-level regulators assume a bigger role in crypto policy, according to Ethan Ostroff, partner at the Troutman Pepper Locke law firm.

“I think with the current administration, my sense is, we are highly likely to see a significant pullback by the CFPB in the context of the activity by other regulators,” Ostroff told Cointelegraph in an interview.

State regulators also have the authority under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) to assume some of the regulatory roles of the CFPB, the attorney said but also added that some regulatory functions will continue to fall within the purview of the CFPB as a matter of established law.

Ostroff cited the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) as regulators to keep an eye on as potential leaders of crypto regulations at the state level.

However, the attorney clarified that while the CFPB may see a diminished role during the Trump administration, the agency would not be outright dismantled during the current regime due to “statutorily mandated obligations and requirements” that require acts of Congress to change.

Trump administration targets CFPB in efficiency push

The Trump administration targeted the CFPB as part of a broader push by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash government spending and reduce the federal debt.

Russell Vought, the recently appointed head of the CFPB, announced major funding cuts to the agency and scaled back operations within days of assuming the helm at the CFPB in February 2025.

Bitcoin Regulation, US Government, United States, Donald Trump — *Source:* *Russell Vought*

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Elon Musk for dismantling the CFPB, which the US senator co-founded back in 2007.

Warren characterized Musk as a “bank robber” and claimed that the Trump administration dismantled the CFPB to undo consumer protection rules and have greater control over the financial system.

In a February 12 interview with Mother Jones, the senator stressed that the Executive Branch of government does not have the statutory authority to fully dismantle the CFPB, which can only be done through Congressional approval.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Politics

Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments

Published

16 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing .5 billion in repayments

Nearly 400,000 creditors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX risk missing out on $2.5 billion in repayments after failing to begin the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.

Roughly 392,000 FTX creditors have failed to complete or at least take the first steps of the mandatory Know Your Customer verification, according to an April 2 court filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

FTX users originally had until March 3 to begin the verification process to collect their claims.

“If a holder of a claim listed on Schedule 1 attached thereto did not commence the KYC submission process with respect to such claim on or prior to March 3, 2025, at 4:00 pm (ET) (the “KYC Commencing Deadline”), 2 such claim shall be disallowed and expunged in its entirety,” the filing states.

Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments — *FTX court filing. Source:* *Bloomberglaw.com*

The KYC deadline has been extended to June 1, 2025, giving users another chance to verify their identity and claim eligibility. Those who fail to meet the new deadline may have their claims permanently disqualified.

According to the court documents, claims under $50,000 could account for roughly $655 million in disallowed repayments, while claims over $50,000 could amount to $1.9 billion — bringing the total at-risk funds to more than $2.5 billion.

The next round of FTX creditor repayments is set for May 30, 2025, with over $11 billion expected to be repaid to creditors with claims of over $50,000.

Under FTX’s recovery plan, 98% of creditors are expected to receive at least 118% of their original claim value in cash.

How FTX users can complete KYC

Many FTX users have reported problems with the KYC process.

However, users who were unable to submit their KYC documentation can resubmit their application and restart the verification process, according to an April 5 X post from Sunil, FTX creditor and Customer Ad-Hoc Committee member.

Impacted users should email FTX support (support@ftx.com) to receive a ticket number, then log in to the support portal, create an account, and re-upload the necessary KYC documents.

FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, processed the first round of repayments in February, distributing $1.2 billion to creditors.

The crypto industry is still recovering from the collapse of FTX and more than 130 subsidiaries launched a series of insolvencies that led to the industry’s longest-ever crypto winter, which saw Bitcoin’s (BTC) price bottom out at around $16,000.

While not a “market-moving catalyst” in itself, the beginning of the FTX repayments is a positive sign for the maturation of the crypto industry, which may see a “significant portion” reinvested into cryptocurrencies, Alvin Kan, chief operating officer at Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph.