Angela Rayner criticises Tories for ‘obsessing’ over her living arrangements as renters face no fault eviction ‘limbo’

Published

12 months ago

April 24, 2024

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Labour’s Angela Rayner has attacked the Conservatives for “obsessing” over her living arrangements while renters continue to face uncertainty over the government’s promise to end no-fault evictions.

The deputy leader has been facing scrutiny over the sale of her former home in Stockport from before she was an MP, with claims she did not pay the right amount of capital gains tax and may have registered to vote at the wrong address – allegations she denies.

Greater Manchester Police are now looking into the latter issue, which could be a breach of electoral rules, following a complaint from Tory MP James Daly.

But standing in at Prime Minister’s Questions on the day the much-delayed Renters’ Reform Bill returned to the Commons, Ms Rayner said: “I know this party opposite is desperate to talk about my living arrangements, but the public want to know what this government is going to do about theirs.”

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Ministers first promised to scrap no-fault evictions – or Section 21s – in April 2019, but agreed to an indefinite delay to outlawing the mechanism after a group of Conservative backbenchers, including some landlords, raised concerns that the courts were not prepared for the legal cases that could replace them.

A new clause being added to the bill by the government today would, if approved, order an assessment of the courts before any ban could be enacted. But it offers no timetable for when the probe would have to take place.

This has led to a huge backlash from campaigners, renters and opposition parties, who have claimed the government is “running scared” of their own MPs and leaving renters in “limbo”.

Pointing to an exclusive Sky News article showing almost one million people had been subject to no-fault evictions since the Tories promised to ban them, Ms Rayner spoke about our case study, Natalie, who has been served two Section 21s in 18 months.

“She joins nearly a million families at risk of homelessness due to his party’s failure to ban this cruel practice,” she added.

“Now instead of obsessing over my house, when will he get a grip and show the same obsession with ending no-fault evictions?”

Representing Rishi Sunak at PMQs while he is abroad, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden poked fun at the Labour MP over the allegations about her former property, saying: “It is a pleasure to have another exchange with [Ms Rayner] in this House, our fifth in 12 months. Anymore of these and she’ll be claiming it as her principal residence.”

But he then insisted the government was “taking action” to help renters, and he was “confident that in line with our manifesto, we will deliver on that commitment” to end no-fault evictions.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove insisted his “determination” to end Section 21s was “ironclad”, but he could not commit to the ban coming in before the election – saying it would depend on opposition parties and the House of Lords supporting the whole bill.

Opening today’s debate in the Commons, one of his ministers, Jacob Young, also refused to give a date “because I can’t say until we’re confident that the county court system is ready”.

Mr Young said the government was investing £1.2m to deliver the new legal processes needed, but added: “If we don’t have a ready court system when we make this change, the biggest change in 30 years, if the courts aren’t ready for these changes that will not benefit tenants, it won’t benefit landlords, but it certainly won’t benefit tenants either.”

However, Labour’s shadow housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, accused ministers of “grubby political horse trading” with their backbenchers, telling the Commons: “The truth is that the only balance the government has ever sought to strike when it comes to this bill is attempting to honour the letter of the 2019 Conservative Party commitment, and appeasing the vested interest pressing for the very minimum amount of reform required to assert that it has been met.”

Mr Pennycook said his party would be supporting the bill overall, despite its “numerous defects, deficiencies, omissions”, but Labour would be voting against the new clause implementing the indefinite delay on the Section 21 ban.

Sky News research has revealed more than 100 MPs in the Commons have earned over £10,000 a year as landlords over the course of this parliament.

A total of 83 Tories have declared they received the sizeable rental payments since the last election in December 2019, along with 18 Labour MPs, four Liberal Democrats and one member of the SNP.

But many more could be benefiting from a smaller income as landlords, as MPs only have to publish it on the register of interests if rent tops the £10,000 annual figure.

Politics

Panama’s capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees

Published

3 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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<div>Panama's capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees</div>

Panama’s capital city will accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, including bus tickets and permits, Panama City mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on April 15, joining a growing list of jurisdictions globally that have voted to accept such payments.

Panama City will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Circle’s USDC (USDC), and Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin for payment once the crypto-to-fiat payment rails are established, Mizrachi posted on the X platform.

Mizrachi said previous administrations attempted to push through similar legislation but failed to overcome stipulations requiring the local government to accept funds denominated in US dollars.

In a translated statement, the Panama City mayor said that the local government partnered with a bank that will immediately convert any digital assets received into US dollars, allowing the municipality to accept crypto without introducing new legislation.

Panama City joins a growing list of global jurisdictions on the municipal and state level accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes, exploring Bitcoin strategic reserves to protect public treasuries from inflation and passing pro-crypto policies to attract investment.

Taxes, Panama, Bitcoin Adoption — *Source:* *Mayer Mizrachi*

Municipalities and states embrace digital assets

Several municipalities and territories around the globe already accept crypto for tax payments or are exploring various implementations of blockchain technology for government spending.

The US state of Colorado started accepting crypto payments for taxes in September 2022. Much like Panama City said it will do, Colorado immediately converts the crypto to fiat.

In December 2023, the city of Lugano, Switzerland, announced taxes and city fees could be paid in Bitcoin, which was one of the developments that earned it the reputation of being a globally recognized Bitcoin city.

The city council of Vancouver, Canada, passed a motion to become “Bitcoin-friendly city” in December 2024. As part of that motion, the Vancouver local government will explore integrating BTC into the financial system, including tax payments.

North Carolina lawmaker Neal Jackson introduced legislation titled “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act” on April 10. If passed, the bill will recognize cryptocurrencies as an official form of payment that can be used to pay taxes.

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Politics

Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Published

6 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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<div>Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation</div>

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal” following a difficult “wave of failures and frauds,” he said.

Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Powell delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago. Source: Bloomberg Television

During crypto’s difficult years, which culminated in 2022 and 2023 with several high-profile business failures, the Fed “worked with Congress to try to get a […] legal framework for stablecoins, which would have been a nice place to start,” said Powell. “We were not successful.”

“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into more mainstreaming of that whole sector, so Congress is again looking […] at a legal framework for stablecoins,” he said.

“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” said Powell.

This isn’t the first time Powell acknowledged the need for stablecoin legislation. In June 2023, the Fed boss told the House Financial Services Committee that stablecoins were “a form of money” that requires “robust” federal oversight.

Support for stablecoin legislation is growing

The election of US President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of pro-crypto appointments and policy shifts that could make America a digital asset superpower.

Washington’s formal embrace of cryptocurrency began earlier this year when Trump established the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, with Bo Hines as the executive director.

Hines told a digital asset summit in New York last month that a comprehensive stablecoin bill was a top priority for the current administration. After the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act, a final stablecoin bill could arrive at the president’s desk “in the next two months,” said Hines.

Bo Hines (right) speaks of “imminent” stablecoin legislation at the Digital Asset Summit on March 18. Source: Cointelegraph

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are by far the most popular tokens used for remittances and cryptocurrency trading.

The combined value of all stablecoins is currently $227 billion, according to RWA.xyz. The dollar-pegged USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) account for more than 88% of the total market.

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Politics

Court grants 60-day pause of SEC, Ripple appeals case

Published

7 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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Court grants 60-day pause of SEC, Ripple appeals case

An appellate court has granted a joint request from Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pause an appeal in a 2020 SEC case against Ripple amid settlement negotiations.

In an April 16 filing in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the court approved a joint SEC-Ripple motion to hold the appeal in abeyance — temporarily pausing the case — for 60 days. As part of the order, the SEC is expected to file a status report by June 15.

Law, Ripple, SEC, Court — *April 16 order approving a motion to hold an appeal in abeyance. Source: PACER*

The SEC’s case against Ripple and its executives, filed in December 2020, was expected to begin winding down after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on March 19 that the commission would be dropping its appeal against the blockchain firm. A federal court found Ripple liable for $125 million in an August ruling, resulting in both the SEC and blockchain firm filing an appeal and cross-appeal, respectively.

However, once US President Donald Trump took office and leadership of the SEC moved from former chair Gary Gensler to acting chair Mark Uyeda, the commission began dropping multiple enforcement cases against crypto firms in a seeming political shift. Ripple pledged $5 million in XRP to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Garlinghouse and chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty attended events supporting the US president.

Despite support for the end of the case coming from both Ripple and the SEC, the August 2024 judgment and appellate cases leave some legal entanglements. Alderoty said in March that Ripple would drop its cross-appeal with the SEC and receive a roughly $75 million refund from the lower court judgment. It’s unclear what else may result from negotiations over a settlement in appellate court.

New leadership at SEC incoming

Acting chair Uyeda is expected to step down following the US Senate confirming Paul Atkins as SEC chair on April 9.

During his confirmation hearings, lawmakers questioned Atkins about his ties to crypto, which could create conflicts of interest in his role regulating the industry. In financial disclosures, Atkins stated he had millions of dollars in assets through stakes in crypto firms, including Securitize, Pontoro and Patomak.

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