Mark Drakeford ‘regularly’ used WhatsApp to ‘seek clarification of rules’, COVID inquiry told

Published

1 year ago

February 27, 2024

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Mark Drakeford used WhatsApp to “seek clarification of the rules” during the pandemic, the COVID inquiry has been told.

A legal representative told the inquiry that WhatsApp disclosures showed Wales‘s outgoing first minister was “regularly using [the messaging platform] to discuss policy announcements and even to seek clarification on the rules”.

Nia Gowman, who represents Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru, said WhatsApp messages disclosed to the inquiry showed then health minister, Vaughan Gething, and first minister’s most senior special adviser “turning on disappearing messages”.

“The limited messages that have been disclosed clearly show WhatsApp and text messages used to discuss government business where they shouldn’t have been,” Ms Gowman said.

“They show Welsh government senior special advisers suspiciously and systematically deleting communications.

“They show special advisers reminding themselves, and others, that they had agreed ‘to clear out WhatsApp chats once a week’.”

The UK COVID inquiry held its first hearing in Wales on Tuesday, looking at the decisions taken by the Welsh government during the pandemic.

The inquiry will sit at the Mercure Hotel in Cardiff until 14 March.

It was confirmed at the hearing that both Mr Drakeford and Mr Gething will be called to give evidence, as well as senior government officials.

Some people who lost family members during the pandemic have told Sky News they want to see a separate Wales-specific COVID inquiry, as is the case in Scotland.

Responding to those calls, chair of the inquiry Baroness Heather Hallett said that “everyone knows [it] is not a decision for me”.

“I can promise, however, that the UK inquiry will do its utmost to investigate and analyse fully and fairly the most significant issues that concern the people of Wales,” she said.

The Welsh government has previously argued that decisions taken in Wales should be considered within a UK context.

Baroness Hallett said it was “probably appropriate that we begin these hearings in Wales in a week that includes St David’s Day but also includes the National Day of Reflection on Sunday, when we remember those who lost their lives during the pandemic”.

As the hearing got under way on Tuesday, a 20-minute impact film, with contributors speaking in both English and Welsh, was played.

Baroness Hallett described it as “extremely moving” and “it reminds us all why we are here”.

‘Adding confusion’

The inquiry was told that in March 2020, Welsh Labour decided not to hold its conference in Llandudno in-person, due to the emerging threat of the virus.

Lead counsel to the inquiry, Tom Poole KC, said Labour Senedd member, Lee Waters, said in a WhatsApp message: “I do think that it’s an odd signal to send that we’re cancelling conference, but allowing 70,000 to gather in Cardiff on Saturday”.

The message was in reference to the Six Nations match between Wales and Scotland due to be held in Principality Stadium on 14 March 2020.

It was called off by the Welsh Rugby Union on 13 March, but not before 20,000 Scottish rugby fans had travelled to the Welsh capital, the inquiry heard.

On 24 April, then Wales secretary, Simon Hart, wrote to the Welsh government saying its framework for recovery – which outlined how restrictions would be eased – “did not mention the UK government once”.

Mr Hart stated that “unless the evidence being relied on by the Welsh government to diverge from a UK-wide plan is explained, then the Welsh government will be guilty of adding confusion to an already challenging period of recovery”.

‘Treasury for England’

The successor to the coronavirus job retention scheme was due to start on 1 November 2020.

The Welsh government asked the chancellor for the plan to start earlier in Wales after it announced a firebreak lockdown in the country.

Mr Drakeford, in written evidence to the inquiry, described the rejection of that request as “one of the most misguided decisions of the whole pandemic”.

Mr Drakeford said the impact of that decision was that the Treasury was “in effect acting as a Treasury for England, not a Treasury for the UK”.

Mr Poole told the inquiry that this is denied by the UK government, including by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was chancellor at the time.

The inquiry continues.

Politics

Crypto stocks down, IPOs punted amid tariff tumult

Published

2 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Crypto stocks down, IPOs punted amid tariff tumult

Cryptocurrency firms felt the heat from US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout this week as market turbulence sent share prices tumbling and foiled initial public offering (IPO) plans.

From exchanges to Bitcoin (BTC) miners, crypto stocks suffered as much, if not more, than shares of other companies — despite the industry’s warm relationship with the US president.

On April 2, Trump announced he was placing tariffs of at least 10% on practically all imports into the United States and adding additional “reciprocal” tariffs on some 57 countries.

Since then, major US stock indices — including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq — tumbled by roughly 10% as traders braced for a looming trade war.

Sharp selloffs

Crypto exchange Coinbase — a prominent ally of Trump during the November US elections — experienced a similarly severe sell-off, with its stock price dropping by roughly 12% during the same period, according to data from Google Finance.

Bitcoin miners are also taking a hit. The CoinShares Crypto Miners ETF (WGMI) — which tracks a diverse basket of Bitcoin mining stocks — has lost roughly 13% of its value since immediately prior to Trump’s April 2 announcement, according to data from Morningstar.

Even Strategy, one of the best-performing stocks of 2024, wasn’t immune. Its share price has fallen by around 6% on the news, Google Finance data showed.

According to Reuters, investment bank JPMorgan has raised its estimated odds of a global economic recession in 2025 to 60% from 40% previously.

“Disruptive U.S. policies have been recognized as the biggest risk to the global outlook all year,” JP Morgan reportedly said.

“The effect … is likely to be magnified through (tariff) retaliation, a slide in U.S. business sentiment and supply-chain disruptions.”

IPO delays

The impact of US tariffs hasn’t been limited to stock price volatility. Stablecoin issuer Circle has reportedly paused plans for a 2025 IPO, citing market turbulence.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Circle is “waiting anxiously” before taking further steps after filing to take the company public on April 1.

It is among several companies — including fintech Klarna and ticketing service StubHub — reportedly considering altering or shelving IPO plans.

One exception may be Bitcoin itself, which some analysts say is finally “decoupling” from the broader market.

Bitcoin’s spot price has held above $82,000 this week, even as US equities markets collapsed.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Politics

Brazilian court authorizes crypto seizure for debt collection — Report

Published

2 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Brazilian court authorizes crypto seizure for debt collection — Report

Brazilian judges have been authorized to seize cryptocurrency assets from debtors who owe money and are behind on their payments, signaling a growing recognition that digital assets can be both a form of payment and a store of value.

According to local media reports, the Third Panel of Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice unanimously authorized judges to send letters to cryptocurrency brokers informing them about their intent to seize an account holder’s assets to repay creditors.

The report was confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice, which issued a notice on its website.

The decision was reached unanimously by the Third Panel, which reviewed a case brought forward by a creditor.

“Although they are not legal tender, crypto assets can be used as a form of payment and as a store of value,” a translated version of the Superior Court of Justice’s memo read.

Under existing rules, Brazilian judges are allowed to freeze bank accounts and order fund withdrawals, even without a debtor’s knowledge, should they rule that a creditor is owed money.

Following the recent decision, crypto assets now fall under the same purview.

Minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, who voted in the five-person panel, said cryptocurrencies still lack formal regulation in Brazil but noted certain bills have recognized the asset class as “a digital representation of value.”

Despite regulatory uncertainty, Brazil is a major hub for crypto

Although Brazil still lacks an overarching framework for digital assets, with the country’s central bank divvying up the regulatory processes into phases, crypto adoption is surging across the country.

Brazil ranks second among all Latin American countries in terms of “crypto value received,” which is a key benchmark for adoption, according to an October report by Chainalysis.

Earlier this year, crypto exchange Binance was granted approval to operate in the country after it acquired a São Paulo-based investment company.

A Binance executive told Cointelegraph at the time that Brazil was making “significant strides” in regulating the industry and expects a comprehensive framework to be finalized “by mid-year.”

Nevertheless, not all of Brazil’s regulatory proposals have been favorable for the industry.

In December, the country’s central bank proposed banning stablecoin transactions on self-custodial wallets at a time when more locals were using dollar-pegged tokens to hedge against the devaluation of the Brazilian real.

Industry observers told Cointelegraph at the time that such a ban would be difficult to enforce.

“Governments can regulate centralized exchanges, but P2P transactions and decentralized platforms are much harder to control, which means the ban would likely only affect part of the ecosystem,” said Lucien Bourdon, an analyst with Trezor.

Politics

‘Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?’: Labour peer demands action on children’s smartphone safety

Published

3 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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'Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?': Labour peer demands action on children's smartphone safety

Sir Keir Starmer needs to choose between parents who want stronger action to tackle harmful content on children’s phones, or the “tech bros” who are resisting changes to their platforms, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.

Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer noted that the prime minister met with the creators of hit Netflix drama Adolescence to discuss safety on social media, but she questioned if he is going to take action to “stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff” on their platforms where children can access it.

Sir Keir hosted a roundtable on Monday with Adolescence co-writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson to discuss issues raised in the series, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl, and the rise of incel culture.

Politics latest: Could the UK retaliate against Trump?

The aim was to discuss how to prevent young boys being dragged into a “whirlpool of hatred and misogyny”, and the prime minister said the four-part series raises questions about how to keep young people safe from technology.

Sir Keir has backed calls for the four-part drama to be shown in all schools across the country, but Baroness Harman questioned what is going to be achieved by having young people simply watch the show.

“Two questions were raised [for me],” she said. ” Firstly – after they’ve watched it, what is going to be the discussion afterwards?

“And secondly, is he going to act to stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff to go online into smartphones without protection of children?

“Because if the tech companies wanted to do this, they could actually protect children. They can do everything they want with their tech.”

She acknowledged there are “very big public policy challenges” in this area, but added of the prime minister: “Is he going to side with parents who are terrified and want this content off their children’s phones, or is he going to accept the tech bros’ resistance to having to make changes?”

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Can parliament keep up?

The Labour peer backed the Conservative Party’s call for a ban on smartphones in schools to be mandated from Westminster, saying it would “enable all schools not to have a discussion with their parents or to battle it out, but just to say, this is the ruling” from central government, which Ofsted would then enforce.

“I’m sensitive to the idea that we shouldn’t constantly be telling schools what to do,” she continued. “And they’ve got a lot of common sense and a lot of professional experience, and they should have as much autonomy as possible.

“But perhaps it’s easier for them if it’s done top down.”

Baroness Harman also questioned the speed with which parliament is actually able to legislate to deal with the very rapid development of new technologies, and posits that it could “change its processes to be able to legislate in real time”.

She suggested that a “powerful select committee” of MPs could be established to do that, because “otherwise we talk about it, and then we’re not able to legislate for 10 years – by which time that problem has really set in, and we’ve got a whole load more problems”.

On the podcast, the trio also discussed the 10% tariffs imposed on the UK by Donald Trump and the government’s efforts to strike a trade deal with the US to mitigate the impact of the levy.

The government has refused to rule out scrapping the Digital Services Tax, a 2% levy on tech giants’ revenues in the UK, as part of the negotiations with the Trump administration – a move Baroness Harman said would be “very heartbreaking”.

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