Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has stepped down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect after he was charged with historical sexual offences.
In a statement, the DUP said: “The party chairman has received a letter from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature and indicating that he is stepping down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect.
“In accordance with the party rules, the party officers have suspended Mr Donaldson from membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process.
“The party officers have unanimously appointed Mr Gavin Robinson MP as the interim party leader.”
It is understood Donaldson will be “strenuously contesting” all charges against him.
He has led the party since 2021, but has been the MP for Lagan Valley since 1997.
Prior to joining the DUP, he was part of the Ulster Unionist Party’s delegation to negotiate the Good Friday Peace agreement.
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It comes after the Police Service of Northern Ireland said a man had been charged with non-recent sex offences.
A PSNI spokesman said: “Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland arrested and charged a 61-year-old man for non-recent sexual offences.
“A 57-year-old woman was also arrested and charged at the time for aiding and abetting additional offences.”
Both are due to appear before Newry Magistrates’ Court on 24 April.
An inauspicious end to a decades-long career
The DUP has weathered many storms, but this is a political earthquake for the party.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s departure under a cloud will have ramifications in both the short-term and long-term.
It will rock the newly established power-sharing government, of which the DUP forms one half.
And maintaining its seats at Westminster in the upcoming general election will be a mountain for the party to climb.
The DUP is well known for its conservative views on social issues like same-sex marriage.
Any whiff of impropriety, never mind alleged offence, leaves it open to allegations of hypocrisy.
In 2010, DUP leader Peter Robinson stepped down briefly as first minister when his wife confessed to an extra-marital affair.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has not only resigned but had his party membership suspended, pending the outcome of the judicial process.
It’s an inauspicious end to the political career of Northern Ireland’s longest-serving member of parliament.
Donaldson came to national prominence for his part in the confidence and supply agreement which propped up Theresa May’s government with DUP support following the 2017 election.
But the DUP ended up voting against Mrs May’s deal – and ultimately her government collapsed.
He became leader of the party in Westminster in 2019, and took overall control in 2021.
Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Fein first minister of Northern Ireland, said: “My priority is to continue to provide the leadership the public expect and deserve, and to ensure the four-party executive coalition delivers for the whole of our community now and in the future.
“The DUP leader has resigned after being charged with serious offences.
“This is now a matter for the criminal justice system.”
Mr Robinson, who has taken over the reins of the party on an interim basis, became the DUP deputy leader in June 2023.
Gavin Robinson MP. Pic: PA
He joined the Commons in 2015, having previously been lord mayor of Belfast, and a councillor for the city.
Conservative MP and former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said Mr Robinson’s selection was a “very positive decision”.
He added that Mr Robinson had “played a key role in a tough negotiation to restore powersharing and along with other DUP colleagues will chart a positive course for the future”.
It is understood Donaldson remains an MP.
A spokesperson for the House of Commons said: “We are aware of the announcement by the police, but will not be commenting on individual cases.”
Anti-corruption authorities in Bangladesh have issued a warrant for the arrest of British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sought the warrant over allegations Ms Siddiq received a 7,200sq ft plot of land in the country’s capital, Dhaka.
Ms Siddiq’s lawyers have told Sky News the allegations are “completely false”, adding there was “no basis at all for any charges to be made against her”.
They said there was “absolutely no truth” behind the allegations regarding the plot of land.
The MP resigned as a Treasury minister earlier this year following an investigation by the prime minister’s ethics adviser into her links to her aunt Sheikh Hasina’s regime, which was overthrown in Bangladesh last year.
Earlier this month, Ms Siddiq told Sky News her lawyers were “ready” to handle any formal questions about allegations of corruption in Bangladesh.
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Tulip Siddiq’s lawyers ‘are ready’
In her first public comments since leaving government, Ms Siddiq said “there’s been allegations for months on end and no one has contacted me”.
Last month, the interim leader of Bangladesh told Sky News the MP had “wealth left behind” in the country “and should be made responsible”.
Lawyers acting for Ms Siddiq wrote to the Bangladeshi Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) several weeks ago saying the allegations were “false and vexatious”.
The allegations surrounding Ms Siddiq are focused on links to her aunt Ms Hasina – who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh for 20 years.
Ms Hasina was forced to flee the country in August following weeks of deadly protests.
She is accused of becoming an autocrat, with politically-motivated arrests and other abuses allegedly happening on her watch. Ms Hasina claims it is all a political witch hunt.
Tulip Siddiq with Sheikh Hasina in 2009. Pic: Reuters
Ms Siddiq’s lawyer said in a statement that she “has not been contacted by the ACC or any authorities in Bangladesh”.
“The ACC has made various allegations against Ms Siddiq through the media in the last few months,” they said.
“The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Ms Siddiq’s lawyers. The ACC has not responded to Ms Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers.
“Ms Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued.
“To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means.
“She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.
“No evidence has been provided by the ACC to support this or any other allegation made against Ms Siddiq, and it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated.”
Senator Tim Scott, the chairman of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, recently said that he expects a crypto market bill to be passed into law by August 2025.
The chairman also noted the Senate Banking Committee’s advancement of the GENIUS Act, a comprehensive stablecoin regulatory bill, in March 2025, as evidence that the committee prioritizes crypto policy. In a statement to Fox News, Scott said:
“We must innovate before we regulate — allowing innovation in the digital asset space to happen here at home is critical to American economic dominance across the globe.”
Scott’s timeline for a crypto market structure bill lines up with expectations from Kristin Smith, CEO of the crypto industry advocacy group Blockchain Association, of market structure and stablecoin legislation being passed into law by August.
The Trump administration has emphasized that comprehensive crypto regulations are central to its plans for protecting the value of the US dollar and establishing the country as a global leader in digital assets by attracting investment into US-based crypto firms.
Senator Tim Scott highlights the Senate Banking Committee’s goals and accomplishments in 2025. Source: Fox News
Related: Atkins becomes next SEC chair: What’s next for the crypto industry
Support for comprehensive crypto regulations is bipartisan
US lawmakers and officials expect clear crypto policies to be established and signed into law sometime in 2025 with bipartisan support from Congress.
Speaking at the Digital Assets Summit in New York City, on March 18, Democrat Representative Ro Khanna said he expects both the market structure and stablecoin bills to pass this year.
The Democrat lawmaker added that there are about 70-80 other representatives in the party who understand the importance of passing clear digital asset regulations in the United States.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, pictured left, President Donald Trump in the center, and crypto czar David Sacks, pictured right, at the White House Crypto Summit. Source: The White House
Khanna emphasized that fellow Democrats support dollar-pegged stablecoins due to the role of dollar tokens in expanding demand for the US dollar worldwide through the internet.
Bo Hines, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, also spoke at the conference and predicted that stablecoin legislation would be passed into law within 60 days.
Hines highlighted that establishing US dominance in the digital asset space is a goal with widespread bipartisan support in Washington DC.
Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025
The US Social Security Administration (SSA) will move all public communications to the X social media platform amid sweeping workforce cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by X owner Elon Musk.
According to anonymous sources who spoke with WIRED, the government agency will no longer issue its customary letters and press releases to communicate changes to the public, instead relying on X as its primary form of public-facing communication.
The shift comes as the SSA downsizes its workforce from 57,000 employees to roughly 50,000 to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. The agency issued this statement in February 2025:
“SSA has operated with a regional structure consisting of 10 offices, which is no longer sustainable. The agency will reduce the regional structure in all agency components down to four regions. The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient.”
Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has accused the Social Security system of distributing billions of dollars in wrongful payments, a claim echoed by the White House. Musk’s comments sparked intense debate about the future of the retirement program and sustainable government spending.
Source: Elon Musk
Related: Musk says he found ‘magic money computers’ printing money ‘out of thin air’
DOGE targets US government agencies in efficiency push
The Department of Government Efficiency is an unofficial government agency tasked with identifying and curbing allegedly wasteful public spending through budget and personnel cuts.
In March, DOGE began probing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and gained access to its internal systems, including data repositories.
SEC officials signaled their cooperation with DOGE and said the regulatory agency would work closely with it to provide any relevant information requested.
Musk and Trump discuss curbing public spending and eliminating government waste. Source: The White house
DOGE also proposed slashing the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) workforce by 20%. The workforce reduction could impact up to 6,800 IRS employees and be implemented by May 15 — exactly one month after 2024 federal taxes are due.
Musk’s and the DOGE’s proposals for sweeping spending cuts are not limited to slashing budgets and reducing the size of the federal workforce.
DOGE is reportedly exploring blockchain to curb public spending by placing the entire government budget onchain to promote accountability and transparency.
Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle
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