Anderson defects to Reform UK – as Beth Rigby challenges three-word answer to question
Former Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK, becoming the party’s first MP in the Commons.
Mr Anderson, who secured the seat of Ashfield in 2019, was kicked out of the parliamentary Conservative Party for refusing to apologise after alleging that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”.
And while some of his colleagues had called for his reinstatement, others accused him of Islamophobia.
Making the announcement of his defection at an event in central London, Mr Anderson told journalists he had done “a lot of soul searching” on his “political journey”, but concluded: “Somebody has to make a stand.”
“It is no secret that I’ve been talking to my friends in Reform for a while,” added the MP. “And Reform UK has offered me the chance to speak out in parliament on behalf of millions of people up and down the country who feel that they’re not being listened to.
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Lee Anderson: ‘I want my country back’
“People will say that I’ve took a gamble. And I’m prepared to gamble on myself, as I know from my mailbag how many people in this country support Reform UK and what they have to say.
“And like millions of people up and down the country, all I want is my country back.”
Asked by Sky News’s political editor, Beth Rigby, what his message would be to his former Tory colleagues who feared the defection could damage their chances at the next election, he said: “Country, constituency, then party.”
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Mr Anderson was welcomed to Reform UK by its leader, Richard Tice, who said his first MP would be a “champion of the red wall”, who would “tell it as it is, with no nonsense, no waffle”.
Refuting claims his own views were controversial, Mr Anderson added: “They are opinions which are shared by millions of people up and down the country.
“It’s not controversial to be concerned about illegal immigration. It’s not controversial to be concerned about legal migration.
“It’s not controversial to be, you know, worried, concerned about the Metropolitan Police and the failing London mayor and the hate marchers, the street crime and the shoplifters literally getting away with ruining businesses on a daily basis.
“It’s not controversial to fight back in a culture war, a culture war that is sweeping our nation.”
Defecting to another party does not trigger a by-election automatically, but an MP can choose to hold one – as both Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless did when they left the Tories to join UKIP.
However, Mr Anderson said he would not call a vote, claiming it would be “pretty reckless” so close to a general election and would “cost a fortune”.
Attacking his now former party, Mr Anderson accused the Conservatives of “stifling free speech”, adding: “When I find myself suspended for speaking my mind, and by the way speaking up on behalf of millions of people up and down the country who agree with me, that for me is unpalatable. It’s a shocker, if I’m honest.”
And in a statement on X, he also claimed to have been “cast aside” by the Tories and “unsupported”.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said they “regret” the decision taken by Mr Anderson, adding: “Voting for Reform can’t deliver anything apart from a Keir Starmer-led Labour government that would take us back to square one – which means higher taxes, higher energy costs, no action on Channel crossings, and uncontrolled immigration.”
But while one of the right-wing factions within the Tories, the New Conservatives, released their own statement agreeing with that sentiment, they placed the blame of the MP’s exit at the door of their own party.
“We have failed to hold together the coalition of voters who gave us an 80 seat majority in 2019,” it said. “Those voters – in our traditional heartlands and in the red wall seats like Ashfield – backed us because we offered an optimistic, patriotic, no-nonsense Conservatism.
“They voted for lower immigration, for a better NHS, for a rebalanced economy, and for pride in our country.
“Our poll numbers show what the public think of our record since 2019. We cannot pretend any longer that ‘the plan is working’. We need to change course urgently.”
Listen to Beth Rigby, Jess Phillips and Ruth Davidson as they unravel the spin in a new weekly podcast from Sky News
Labour MP and national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden accused the Conservatives of “falling apart”, adding: “What does it say about Rishi Sunak’s judgement that he promoted Lee Anderson in the first place?
“The truth is that the prime minister is too weak to lead a party too extreme to be led, and if the Tories got another five years it would all just get worse.”
The Liberal Democrats also said Mr Anderson’s defection left Mr Sunak’s authority in “tatters”, with deputy leader Daisy Cooper adding: “This is a prime minister that cannot govern his own party, let alone the country.
“Even now Sunak is too weak to rule out Nigel Farage joining the Conservative Party. It just shows that there is now hardly a cigarette paper between the Conservative Party and Reform.”
Mr Anderson began his political career in the Labour Party as a councillor and member of staff for Ashfield’s then MP Gloria De Piero.
But after being suspended by the local organisation, he chose to join the Conservatives and became their candidate for the 2019 election, winning the seat with a majority of more than 5,000.
The MP became a controversial voice on the backbenches with his views on immigration and the so-called culture wars, but gained a lot of support from the right of his party and was made deputy chair by Mr Sunak.
However, he stood down from the role in January to vote against the government’s Rwanda deportation plan, which he believed needed toughening up.
Mr Anderson’s latest defection will come as a blow to Mr Sunak, and a boost to Reform UK – which is currently polling above the Liberal Democrats.
The emerging blockchain industry lags behind the artificial intelligence sector in terms of job creation, but this hiring gap may narrow by 2030.
Blockchain remains one of the smallest sectors in the tech industry, with about 300,000 global jobs, compared to 1.5 million in AI and machine learning and 25 million in software development, according to a new Bitget Research report shared with Cointelegraph.
The blockchain sector added around 20,000 new jobs in 2024, according to job listings aggregated from platforms like LinkedIn, Web3 Jobs and Crypto Job List.
While blockchain-based jobs had an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45%, outpacing most traditional tech sectors, it trails the AI industry’s 57% CAGR, according to the report.
The AI industry’s maturity and larger share of venture capital investment are the main reasons behind the hiring discrepancy, Vugar Usi Zade, chief operating officer of Bitget exchange, told Cointelegraph:
“Venture investors put more than $100 billion into AI startups in 2024, with AI-centric titles topping a million vacancies worldwide,” Usi Zade said. “Blockchain companies, meanwhile, advertise barely 20,000 openings and drew only about $5.4 billion in new funding during the same period.”
Related: Crypto firms moving into Wall Street territory amid ‘growing synergy’
Blockchain may generate over 1 million jobs by 2030
AI-related job listings have risen between 75% and 100% year-over-year, while blockchain job growth remains around the 45% to 60% growth range.
Blockchain could exceed 1 million jobs by 2030 if it manages to scale at the same rate as AI-based roles, the report said.
More regulatory clarity from laws such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) may encourage blockchain firms to increase their hiring efforts, Zade said:
“Europe’s MiCA rule-book, live since December 2024, is already thawing hiring freezes; similar clarity in the United States and Asia would unlock global head-count plans.”
“Second comes enterprise-grade performance: Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade cut typical layer-2 fees by more than 95%, signaling that blockchains can now handle corporate traffic at an acceptable cost,” he added.
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While blockchain-based jobs are poised for growth, “AI will naturally garner more talent in the next decade,” Jawad Ashraf, CEO of Vanar Chain, told Cointelegraph.
“This is because AI’s market integration has been faster than any other modern technology we can remember,” he said. “If you look at blockchain, we’re still very much focused on integrating with TradFi and broader Web3 markets like gaming, real-world tokenization, etc.”
He added: “Blockchain still hasn’t penetrated the more conventional consumer-oriented markets. It will, in the near future, but we are not there yet.”
Blockchain and AI are not competing for talent
“AI and blockchain aren’t competing for talent; they’re working together to create new opportunities,” Yakov Lebedev, chief business development officer at 3Commas, a trading automation solution, told Cointelegraph.
Combining the two technologies enables “sophisticated financial tools accessible for everyone, not just big institutions, he said, adding:
“Companies are paying top dollar for professionals who understand both AI and blockchain, recognizing the value of this cross-domain expertise.”
Lebedev added that the integration of blockchain with AI is driving steady job growth in both fields, as financial and tech firms move integrated solutions from pilot programs into core operations.
Thanks to the synergistic benefits of the two technologies, blockchain job growth may start mirroring the AI industry, according to Adi Ben-Ari, founder and CEO at Applied Blockchain, an AI-powered blockchain development firm.
AI technology is “probabilistic and introduces uncertainty,” which creates more demand for blockchain and cryptographic technologies, he told Cointelegraph.
“AI produces outcomes that are not always accurate, can be fake, and can sometimes be incorrect,” he said. “This new uncertainty needs to be countered by a technology that brings absolute certainty, and this is where blockchain and cryptography come in.”
Ben-Ari added that blockchain’s ability to secure sensitive information through cryptography would become increasingly important as AI consumes larger amounts of personal data.
AI agents are already using cryptocurrency for autonomous transactions. On Dec. 16, 2024, Luna, an AI agent on Virtuals Protocol, paid another AI agent from STIX Protocol, in exchange for its image generation services — sending $1.77 worth of Virtual (VIRTUAL) tokens, onchain data shows.
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Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron called for a fundamental shift in how decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols manage liquidity, labeling the sector’s ongoing liquidity crisis as “self-inflicted.”
In an exclusive interview, Boiron outlined Polygon’s vision for sustainable DeFi, emphasizing chain-owned liquidity and transparent economic models as the path forward.
Boiron criticized DeFi protocols for fueling a cycle of “mercenary capital” by offering sky-high annual percentage yields (APYs) through token emissions. “It’s just renting liquidity; it’s not real loyalty,” he told Cointelegraph, noting that such strategies lead to fleeting liquidity that vanishes when yields drop or token prices falter. This reliance on short-term hype, he argued, undermines the sector’s stability and deters institutional adoption.
Chasing DeFi stability over hype
To break that cycle, Boiron urged protocols to prioritize fundamentals over flashy returns. “Sustainable DeFi needs models where liquidity sticks around for the right reasons,” he said, pointing to Polygon’s POL token as a blueprint for achieving this.
“Protocols can put their treasury to work, earning yield instead of diluting token value. Over time, this strengthens the treasury rather than just paying off temporary liquidity providers.”
Polygon’s approach centers on chain-owned liquidity, where protocols build treasuries to directly own liquidity positions rather than relying on external providers. Unlike token emissions, which Boiron said attract liquidity quickly but dilute token value, owned liquidity offers long-term stability and capital efficiency.
The only trade-off in the plan, according to Boiron, is time. He explained that building a treasury through captured fees, bond mechanisms or limited emissions requires patience and disciplined management.
Polygon prepares to onboard traditional finance in crypto
For traditional finance (TradFi), liquidity stability and predictability are prerequisites for full DeFi adoption:
“Traditional finance runs on models that need stable, reliable market access. If a DeFi protocol suddenly loses liquidity or slippage spikes, it creates a level of risk most institutions just won’t take.”
However, Boiron said that Polygon’s solutions — sustainable treasury management, owned liquidity and transparent models — are not just for institutions. “These are good financial fundamentals that work for any protocol,” he said, dismissing suggestions that Polygon’s strategy is too narrow to address DeFi’s broader issues.
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Building a scalable blueprint for chain-owned liquidity
As Polygon pushes for a DeFi reset, Boiron remains optimistic about getting support from frameworks like Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and evolving US guidance. “We’re 12–18 months away from seeing a lot more institutional involvement,” he predicted.
Looking to 2026, Boiron envisions a more stable DeFi ecosystem with less volatility, stronger community governance and sophisticated financial products bridging TradFi and real-world assets. He said Polygon (POL) could reduce reliance on mercenary capital, fostering true decentralization.
He added that POL is the foundation for long-term growth, as it helps protocols focus on building better products and keeping users engaged, instead of plugging liquidity gaps or diluting tokens to stay afloat:
“POL doesn’t solve everything on its own, but it gives protocols the breathing room to tackle bigger challenges like user retention and capital inflows the right way.”
Boiron’s core message to DeFi protocols is clear: “Sustainable economics always win in the long run.” While market pressures make it tempting to chase high APYs, he noted that surviving protocols from past cycles prove the value of sustainability. “More teams are starting to get it,” he said, urging the ecosystem to adopt models that prioritize long-term growth over fleeting buzz.
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Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, to a low-security US federal correctional institution
Bankman-Fried was moved to the low-security Terminal Island federal correctional institution. Previously, he was located at the Victorville medium-security facility, a notoriously violent place, according to prison consultant firm Elizabeth Franklin-Best.
Samuel Goldfaden, a partner at the crypto-centric lawfirm, DLT Law told Cointelegraph that while his previous facility was violent, BankmanFried had been held in a safer part of the facility, adding:
“Sam Bankman-Fried spent most of his detention in the more secure dorm units of MDC Brooklyn, reportedly alongside other high-profile inmates such as Sean P. Diddy to ensure his safety.“
In “good” company
Terminal Island is located in San Pedro, California and houses involved in financial crime. According to Franklin, notable inmates at the facility include ormer stockbroker Anthony Elgindy (wire fraud, racketeering, securities fraud and extortion) and internet music entrepreneur Mouli Cohen (wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion
New York ttorney Aaron Brogan told Cointelegraph that Bankman-Fried’s “non-violent record may well have been incorporated into a risk score” which led him to this low-security facility. His alleged autism, on the other hand, was unlikely to have had an influence despite layers playing it as a card:
“I’ve heard reports that describe Sam as autistic, but that is within a particular subclinical contemporary lens — autism can be a debilitating condition, but Sam graduated from MIT, founded multiple billion-dollar companies, and successfully defrauded millions of people.“
Goldfaden suggested a tie between Bankman-Fried’s interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, which was not approved by prison authorities and followed by solitary confinement. He highlighted that shortly after the interview,“was transferred, to improved conditions and moved closer to his family.
A win for the FTX co-founder
Brogan pointed out that lower security facilities are usually “nicer” and said that as a result he is less likely to become a victim of violent crime. will probably have a “slightly easier” time communicating with his attorneys.
Still, Brogan said that those are suppositions that are likely to be true, but not guaranteed and the change may be negative for Bankman-Fried instead:
“It is hard to say from the outside, but generally one would expect lower security prisons to make such communication less challenging.“
The timeline of the FTX co-founder’s appeal will not be affected by the move, his pardon-seeking. The move also raises questions about the markedly different safety and rehabilitation environments that inmates guilty of non-violent offences find themselves in.
Still, Brogan said that is “the nature of the United States prison system.” He highlighted that “the prison system treats all inmates unfairly, and almost nobody cares.” He :
“This is a punishment and the mass of people want it to be hard. There is some threshold of human decency, but nothing that has happened to Sam approaches that.“
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