UK’s nuclear deterrent the ‘bedrock’ in Labour plans to keep Britain safe, Sir Keir Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer will announce later today that the UK’s nuclear deterrent is the “bedrock” of his plan to keep Britain safe.
If elected, the Labour leader plans for his party to prioritise defence procurement to strengthen UK security and economic growth, with an aim to direct British defence investment to British business first, with a higher bar set for any decision to buy abroad.
It comes as Sir Keir confirmed his ambition was to boost the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP, if it fits with Labour’s fiscal rules, according to an interview with the i newspaper.
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He is expected to make the announcement during a trip to a shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, to see nuclear submarines being built – the first visit of its kind by a Labour leader in more than 30 years.
Sir Keir is set to say: “The changed Labour Party I lead knows that our nation’s defence must always come first. Labour’s commitment to our nuclear deterrent is total.
“In the face of rising global threats and growing Russian aggression, the UK’s nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of Labour’s plan to keep Britain safe. It will ensure vital protection for the UK and our Nato allies in the years ahead, as well as supporting thousands of high-paying jobs across the UK.”
The Labour leader will also affirm the party’s commitment to the Aukus security pact and will pledge that the submarines should be built in Barrow “for decades to come”.
Pic: PA
During the visit, Sir Keir will speak to workers, union members and apprentices from the shipyard, alongside shadow defence secretary, John Healey, and Australian high commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith.
The party is set to campaign on its commitment to the nuclear deterrent in key communities in the nuclear supply chain, including: Plymouth Moor View, home to the Devonport shipyard; Filton and Bradley Stoke, home of Abbey Wood; and Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, home to HMNB Clyde.
Mr Healey will add: “A strong defence industrial strategy will be hardwired into Labour’s mission 1 in government to drive economic growth across the UK. We will make it fundamental to direct defence investment first to British jobs and British industry.”
Construction of the Ambush submarine in Barrow-in Furness. File pic: PA
‘Attempted distraction’ and ‘grotesque’ visit
Reacting to Sir Keir’s shipyard visit, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps claimed the trip was an “attempted distraction” from the “scandal” surrounding Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, who is continuing to face questions over her living arrangements and tax affairs before she became an MP.
He said Sir Keir and Mr Healey, “tried twice to put Jeremy Corbyn in charge of the nation’s armed forces”.
Referring to David Lammy, he said Labour’s shadow foreign secretary “even voted repeatedly to scrap Trident”.
“They are not the party to be trusted with our nation’s defences,” he added.
“This is just another attempted distraction from the Angela Rayner scandal. If Sir Keir Starmer cannot show leadership on this issue, how can he be trusted to make decision on national security.”
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‘Is spending 2.5% of GDP on defence enough?’
The SNP, which opposes having a nuclear deterrent in the UK, also criticised the visit as “grotesque” and accused Labour of throwing “billions more down the drain”.
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The party’s defence spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes said: “Westminster has already wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on nuclear weapons and expensive nuclear energy.
“It is therefore grotesque that Sir Keir Starmer is prepared to throw billions more down the drain when his party claim there is no money to improve our NHS, help families with the cost of living or to properly invest in our green energy future.
“This money would be better spent on a raft of other things – not least investing in the green energy gold rush, which would ensure Scotland, with all its renewable energy potential, could be a green energy powerhouse of the 21st century.”
A US federal court has frozen around $57.65 million worth of the stablecoin USDC in a class action case over the controversial Libra memecoin.
Onchain data shared with Cointelegraph by the class group’s lawyer, Max Burwick, shows nearly $57 million worth of USDC (USDC) was frozen on May 28 after a Manhattan court agreed to a temporary freeze.
“Yesterday, a federal court in SDNY [Southern District of New York] entered a Temporary Restraining Order at our request, Burwick Law, supported by Tim Treanor, freezing approximately 57.65 million USDC held at Circle,“ Burwick told Cointelegraph.
He added that the court is scheduled to hold a hearing on June 9 to determine whether the assets will remain frozen as the class-action lawsuit progresses.
Burwick is representing Omar Hurlock and other plaintiffs in a class-action suit against crypto venture firm Kelsier Ventures and its three sibling co-founders, Gideon, Thomas and Hayden Davis, on March 17, alleging they created the Libra (LIBRA) cryptocurrency and misled investors to siphon over $100 million from one-sided liquidity pools.
The suit also named blockchain infrastructure companies, KIP Protocol and its CEO, Julian Peh, along with Meteora and its co-founder, Benjamin Chow, as defendants.
Chow’s lawyer, Kelsier Ventures and KIP Protocol were contacted for comment.
LIBRA reached a $4 billion market cap following an X post from Argentine President Javier Milei on Feb. 14 before crashing 94% hours later.
The saga caused a political scandal for Milei, prompting members of Argentina’s opposition party to call for his impeachment, though little traction was gained beyond those statements.
Data from polling platform Zuban Córdoba in March suggested that the Libra scandal negatively impacted Milei’s image and the national management approval rating.
Two Solana wallets with total USDC balances worth $57.65 million were frozen on May 28 at 3:15 am and 3:18 am UTC.
Data from Solana’s blockchain explorer, Solscan, shows that the address “3Fwr…ZQpK” had $44.59 million worth of the stablecoin frozen, while a little over $13 million was frozen from the wallet address “3nHw…xNgH.”
Both wallets were frozen by the Multisig Freeze Authority, Solscan data shows.
Milei closes Libra investigation in Argentina
On May 19, Milei signed a decree to shut down a task force established to investigate the Libra scandal.
Related: Solana may be a memecoin ‘one-trick pony’ — Standard Chartered
No action was taken against Milei or any other Argentine official allegedly tied to the scandal.
However, some critics say a legitimate investigation wasn’t properly conducted in the first place.
“It was always a fake, they never dared to investigate anything at all, and they’re covering each other up because they’re completely up to their necks in it,” Itai Hagman, an economist and member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina, said in a May 20 X post.
Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge
The US Labor Department has officially rescinded guidance issued during the Biden administration that limited the inclusion of cryptocurrency in 401(k) retirement plans.
On May 28, the Labor Department revoked a 2022 guidance that had urged fiduciaries to be “extremely cautious” when considering cryptocurrency for 401(k) retirement plans. The move could give asset managers more flexibility to include digital assets in retirement investment options.
The government agency removed the guidance asserting that it represented a departure from the department’s “historically neutral, principled-based approach to fiduciary investment decisions.”
“We’re rolling back this overreach and making it clear that investment decisions should be made by fiduciaries, not D.C. bureaucrats,” said US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
The Labor Department under Biden criticized the practice of marketing cryptocurrencies to 401(k) participants. At the time, the agency claimed cryptocurrencies posed “significant risks and challenges” to participants’ retirement accounts due to their “speculative and volatile” nature and “valuation concerns,” among other reasons.
The American Banking Association (ABA) criticized the 2022 compliance release, claiming that it did not make the guidance available for public comment and review prior to issuance.
Related: Fidelity introduces retirement accounts with minimal-fee crypto investing
Trump administration shifts crypto landscape
President Trump has pledged to make the United States “the world capital of crypto” during his 2024 campaign.
Under his administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has scaled back several enforcement actions and investigations involving Web3 companies such as Uniswap, Coinbase, and Kraken, while also engaging in policy discussions on topics like real-world asset tokenization and the regulatory status of certain tokens.
At the same time, some lawmakers have expressed concerns about Trump’s involvement in the crypto space, including calls for greater scrutiny of his associated ventures.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
Bilal Bin Saqib, head of Pakistan’s crypto council, announced on May 28 that the country is moving to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saqib said the government of Pakistan followed the United States’ lead in establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve and is embracing pro-crypto regulatory policies. The government official told the audience:
“Today is a very historic day. Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them.”
The announcement represents a significant departure from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on cryptocurrencies, holding that crypto would never be legal in the country.
Pakistan’s shift reflects the broader trend of nation-states adopting pro-crypto policies following the regulatory shift in Washington, DC under the President Donald Trump administration.
Related: Pakistan appoints special assistant to PM on blockchain and crypto
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