Starmer to meet with new team of mayors to discuss devolution after local elections boost

Published

10 months ago

May 13, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer will bring together Labour’s newly expanded team of mayors on Monday to develop a “gold standard” for growing regional economies.

It comes after a string of victories in the local elections, with Labour seizing the West Midlands mayoralty after a knife-edge battle and Sadiq Khan seeing off Tory challenger Susan Hall to win a historic third term in London.

At a meeting in the West Midlands, Sir Keir will tell the mayors that boosting regional growth will be “top of the agenda” in Labour’s devolution plans if it wins the next general election, and that he wants local leaders to be a “core part” of growing their economies.

However, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves committing to tough “fiscal rules”, it is not clear if there will be any extra funding for local areas.

Speaking ahead of the first meeting, the Labour leader said: “These local elections showed that the British public is ready to put their trust in this changed Labour Party.

“We will repay that trust by delivering economic growth for everyone, everywhere in partnership with our Labour mayors.

“Our growing team of Labour mayors is already setting the agenda and delivering for local people despite a failing Tory government that is choking off our economy and hoarding power in Westminster.”

Sir Keir has previously pledged to oversee a “fundamental shift” in politics through devolution and its “Take Back Control Act”, which he said would give new powers to regional mayors over transport, skills, energy, and planning – something he branded “full-fat devolution”.

Sky News has previously reported on how Sue Gray, the civil service partygate investigator turned chief of staff, has been key in improving the relationship between the Leader of the Opposition’s Office (LOTO) and the metro mayors, which has sometimes been seen as strained due to disagreements over policy, including the war in Gaza.

In a display of strengthened ties, Sir Keir will tomorrow point to work already being done by Labour’s mayors – such as Andy Burnham’s bus rollout in Greater Manchester – and say this can help set a “gold standard” for future Local Growth Plans.

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But the Conservatives said Labour’s mayors “have spent more time wading in on international issues they have no control over rather than delivering on people’s priorities”.

Tory party chairman Richard Holden added: “We are boosting regional growth and creating thriving communities, investing over £15bn in projects across the UK and backing 75 towns through our Long-Term Plan for Towns. Labour would take us back to square one.”

What seats did Labour win?

Labour’s wins included Richard Parker’s shock victory over Conservative Andy Street in the West Midlands, Claire Ward becoming the East Midlands’s first elected mayor, Kim McGuinness winning the new North East mayoral election, and David Skaith winning the new York & North Yorkshire mayoralty – which includes Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency.

As well as London, the party retained mayoralties including Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and the Liverpool City Region.

The Tories held on to the Tees Valley mayoralty but otherwise suffered a mauling from the electorate, also losing nearly 500 council seats and the Blackpool South by-election.

Labour said the Tories had “failed to level up” the country, pointing to its analysis of Office for National Statistics data showing the average gap in gross domestic product per person between London and other combined authorities in England averaged £29,000 in 2022.

Levelling up was at the heart of former prime minister Boris Johnson’s 2019 Conservative manifesto.

Speaking last month, Sir Keir told Sky News it was the “right policy” but lambasted Mr Johnson’s “failure” to deliver it, while accusing his successor Mr Sunak of “strangling it at birth”.

However, despite criticising the Conservatives for not putting money behind the policy, Sir Keir refused to commit any new funding to local councils, which are straddling an estimated funding gap of £4bn over the next two years.

Politics

US House follows Senate in passing resolution to kill IRS DeFi broker rule

Published

8 hours ago

March 12, 2025

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US House follows Senate in passing resolution to kill IRS DeFi broker rule

The US House of Representatives has voted in favor of nullifying a rule that would have required decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report to the Internal Revenue Service.

On March 11, the House of Representatives voted 292 for and 132 against a motion to repeal the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule that aimed to expand existing IRS reporting requirements to crypto.

All 132 votes to keep the rule were Democrats. However, 76 of those in the party joined the Republican vote to repeal it.

This follows the US Senate’s March 4 vote on the motion to repeal, which saw it pass with a vote of 70 to 27.

The rule would force DeFi platforms, such as decentralized exchanges, to disclose gross proceeds from crypto sales, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.

Speaking after the vote, Republican Representative Mike Carey, who submitted the repeal motion, said, “The DeFi broker rule invades the privacy of tens of millions of Americans, hinders the development of an important new industry in the United States and would overwhelm the IRS.”

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill also applauded the overturning of the rule, calling it “a clear example of government overreach that threatens to push American digital asset development overseas.”

The resolution will need to pass another Senate vote before being sent to President Donald Trump, who has signaled he’d support it.

Those opposing the rule repeal included Democrat Representative Lloyd Doggett, who said getting a “special interest exemption” from IRS disclosures “makes tax evasion and money laundering so much easier for wealthy Republican donors who have been using these decentralized exchanges.”

He claimed killing the rule would create a “loophole that would be exploited by wealthy tax cheats, drug traffickers and terrorist financiers.”

In early March, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said the administration would support congressional efforts to rescind the DeFi broker rule.

At the time, officials from the Office of Management and Budget wrote “This rule … would stifle American innovation and raise privacy concerns over the sharing of taxpayers’ personal information, while imposing an unprecedented compliance burden on American DeFi companies.”

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Politics

Cboe seeks to add staking to Fidelity’s Ether ETF

Published

15 hours ago

March 11, 2025

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Cboe seeks to add staking to Fidelity’s Ether ETF

Securities exchange Cboe BZX is seeking permission from US regulators to incorporate staking into Fidelity’s Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a March 11 filing.

The filing marks Cboe’s latest attempt to support staking for the Ether (ETH) funds traded on its US exchange.

Cboe’s proposed rule change would allow Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) to “stake, or cause to be staked, all or a portion of the Trust’s ether through one or more trusted staking providers,” the filing said.

The Fidelity Ethereum Fund is among the most popular Ether ETFs, with nearly $1 billion in assets under management, according to data from VettaFi.

In February, Cboe asked permission to add staking to another Ether ETF, the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF.

Staking Ether enhances returns and involves posting ETH as collateral with a validator in exchange for rewards.

As of March 11, staking Ether yields approximately 3.3% APR, denominated in ETH, according to Staking Rewards.

Other popular cryptocurrencies, including Solana (SOL), also feature staking mechanisms.

Proposed rule changes

The US Securities and Exchange Commission must still approve Cboe’s proposed rule changes before staking can commence.

In February, the SEC acknowledged more than a dozen exchange filings related to cryptocurrency ETFs, according to records.

The SEC’s acknowledgments highlight how the agency has softened its stance on crypto since US President Donald Trump started his second term on Jan. 20.

In addition to staking, the filings, submitted by Cboe and other exchanges, addressed proposed rule changes concerning options, in-kind redemptions and new types of altcoin funds.

Cboe has also asked permission to list Canary and WisdomTree’s proposed XRP (XRP) ETFs and support in-kind creations and redemptions for Fidelity’s Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH ETFs, among other proposed changes.

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Politics

Texas lawmaker seeks to cap state’s proposed BTC purchases at $250M

Published

15 hours ago

March 11, 2025

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Texas lawmaker seeks to cap state’s proposed BTC purchases at 0M

A member of the Texas legislature has proposed a bill that could limit the amount local and state authorities invest in cryptocurrency as a reserve asset.

In a bill filed on March 10, Texas Representative Ron Reynolds proposed the state’s comptroller not be allowed to invest more than $250 million of its Economic Stabilization Fund — otherwise known as a “rainy day” fund — in Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies. The legislation also suggested that Texas municipalities or counties could not invest more than $10 million in crypto.

Law, Texas, Bitcoin Reserve — *HB 4258, filed by Texas Representative Ron Reynolds. Source:* *Texas legislature*

The proposed bill followed the Texas Senate passing legislation on March 6 to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the state. The SB 21 bill seemingly could allow the Texas comptroller to have no limit on purchasing BTC for a reserve, based on the most recent draft.

The plan for a strategic Bitcoin reserve in Texas was one of many separate bills proposed in US state governments following the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers winning control of the US House of Representatives and Senate. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in January that the state’s legislative priorities for 2025 would include a proposal to establish a Texas Bitcoin Reserve.

Is there a partisan divide on state and federal crypto plans?

It’s unclear if Rep. Reynolds, a Democrat, intended to support the BTC reserve bill introduced by State Senator Charles Schwertner, a Republican, or propose restrictions in the event the legislation becomes law. If passed and signed by Governor Greg Abbott, the bill would take effect on Sept. 1. Cointelegraph reached out to Rep. Reynolds’ office for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Though Trump signed an executive order on March 7 to create a federal “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and “Digital Asset Stockpile,” many legal experts have questioned the US president’s authority to enact specific policies through EOs. Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis reintroduced legislation on March 11 to codify the proposed BTC reserve into law in the Senate.

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