Starmer win, or Sunak comeback of the century? Either way 4 July will be a record-breaking battle for No 10
This general election campaign is set to be an epochal, history-making election whichever way it goes.
If Starmer wins an outright majority, it will be the largest ever uniform swing for a winning party, beyond what Tony Blair achieved in 1997. If Rishi Sunak manages to remain in Downing Street – well no PM has ever come back from being 20 points behind in the polls six months out from an election, let alone weeks.
So either way, July 4 will be a record-breaking battle for No.10.
It was, I understand, a “finely balanced” decision to call the election. The prime minister had been taking soundings from colleagues. He had called the civil service in last week to advise on timing options.
I hear from a couple of sources that Isaac Levido, Sunak’s campaign chief, had wanted to go in the autumn, in order to test the messages and see economic improvement bed in, but the PM decided to go now.
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One person who knows the PM explained it to me as this – the PM wants to project confidence and believes he has a plan for the country that aligns with voters. One No.10 source told me Michael Gove summed up it best in cabinet: “Who dares wins and you dare and you are going to win.”
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Why is this a ‘historic’ election?
For Labour, euphoria. For the Tories a show of strength
But to get a sense check as we kick off day one of the campaign, let me give you a taster of the mood in the different camps.
On the Labour side, euphoria; they get the election they have been calling for, at a moment when some around Starmer would quietly say to you that the only way is down in terms of polling. Months of trying to hold the lead turns to weeks. And the message is singular: “Change, that’s our election message.”
On the Tory side, Sunak’s allies explain it like this; the economy is back to normal and this is a “show of strength” to quote one. “He’s not afraid and is completely and utterly confident in his values and principles being aligned with the public and being able to prosecute that argument.”
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Sky News election announcement
The gambler: Why summer election is a big call for the PM
Starmer: Election is ‘moment country has been waiting for’
Choice or change
There is, I think, something else at play. Some 10 months of wage growth while inflation has been falling hasn’t reaped the dividends with voters that perhaps Team Sunak expected. People aren’t feeling the difference, and waiting a few months isn’t going to change that. So with good economic news now – on inflation and growth – the PM sets it up as a choice.
His MPs are spitting as they look down the barrel of election loss – whatever the gloss Mr Gove likes to put on it. I’m told that a sitting minister publicly asked at the meeting of backbench MPs on Wednesday night if they could submit a letter of no confidence in the PM. “It’s madness,” said one former cabinet minister on election timing, while another told me: “We are in deep trouble.”
As for the coming weeks, get used to these messages: Sunak on the choice at the next election and Starmer on the change.
Labour believe that the voters have had enough of the Conservatives, and this has been borne out in recent ballot box tests. Mr Sunak has made the gamble he can pull off in six weeks what he has failed to do 18 months into the job – win voters over.
Starmer win, or Sunak comeback of the century? Either way 4 July will be a record-breaking battle for No.10.
Politics
NHS must change policy on allowing trans people on single-sex wards, head of equalities watchdog says
The NHS must change its policy of allowing transgender people to be on single-sex wards aligned with their gender identity following the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a “woman”, the head of Britain’s equalities watchdog said.
On Wednesday, judges at the UK’s highest court unanimously ruled that the definition of a “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said the ruling was “enormously consequential” and ensured clarity.
Politics latest: Supreme Court ruling should ‘draw a line’ under debate
She vowed to pursue organisations that do not update their policies, saying they should be “taking care” to look at the “very readable judgment”.
On single-sex hospital wards, Baroness Falkner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the NHS will “have to change” their 2019 policy, which says transgender patients are entitled to be accommodated on single-sex wards matching how they identify.
She said the court ruling means there is now “no confusion” and the NHS “can start to implement the new legal reasoning and produce their exceptions forthwith”.
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Gender ruling – How it happened
Women’s sport and changing rooms
The baroness also said trans women can no longer take part in women’s sport, while single-sex places, such as changing rooms, “must be based on biological sex”.
However, she said there is no law against organisations providing a “third space”, such as unisex toilets, and suggested trans rights organisations “should be using their powers of advocacy to ask for those third spaces”.
In 2021, Baroness Falkner came under criticism from trans and other LGBTIQ+ organisations after she said women had the right to question transgender identity without fear of abuse, stigmatisation or loss of employment.
Some EHRC staff resigned in protest of the body’s “descent into transphobia”, while others defended her, saying she was depoliticising the organisation. Her four-year term was extended for a further 12 months in November by the Labour government.
Public bodies must look at equality laws
Health minister Karin Smyth said public bodies have been told to look at how equality laws are implemented following the ruling.
She told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast: “Obviously, public bodies have been asked to look at their own guidance.
“And we will do that very, very carefully.”
She said the court’s ruling was “very clear” about women’s rights being defined by sex, which she said “will give clarity to companies”.
But she warned against public bodies making statements “that may alarm people”, telling them to take their time to look at their guidance.
The ruling marked the culmination of a long battle between campaign group For Women Scotland and the Scottish government after the group brought a case arguing sex-based protections should only apply to people born female.
Read more:
Feminists ‘feel braver about speaking out’
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‘This ruling doesn’t affect trans people in the slightest’
Not a triumph of one group over another
Judge Lord Hodge said the ruling should not be read as “a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”.
He said the Equality Act 2010 “gives transgender people protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender”.
Ms Smyth said those who identify as transgender “will feel concerned” after the ruling but said the Gender Recognition Act still stands and gives people who identify differently to the sex they were born in “the dignity and privacy of presenting differently”.
She said NHS policy of having same sex wards remains, but did not mention the 2019 transgender policy, and said the NHS has been looking at how to support both transgender men and women.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish government “accepts” the judgment and said the ruling “gives clarity”.
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‘Today’s ruling only stokes the culture war further’
Trina Budge, director of For Women Scotland, said it was a “victory for women’s rights” and said the case was “never about trans rights” as transgender people are “fully protected in law”.
“It means there’s absolute clarity in law regarding what a woman is. We know for sure now that we are referring to the biological sex class of women,” she told Sky News.
“And that when we see a women-only space, it means exactly that. Just women. No men. Not even if they have a gender recognition certificate.”
Transgender woman and Scottish Greens activist Ellie Gomersall said the ruling “represents yet another attack on the rights of trans people to live our lives in peace”.
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman added: “This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our society.”
LGBT charity Stonewall said there was “deep concern” around the consequences of the ruling.
As Polygon lays the groundwork for mainstream Web3 adoption in India by bringing blockchain access to over 450 million Reliance Jio users, it remains focused on balancing speed, scalability and affordability, without compromising on decentralization.
Polygon is working with Jio, a telecom giant owned by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, to find ways to infuse blockchain technology into its existing services. The duo is currently adding blockchain-based capabilities to the JioSphere web browser, which would have been expensive, cumbersome and time-consuming via traditional methods.
“We’re building at an insane pace, onboarding massive partners, and pushing blockchain into the mainstream, but with that growth comes the responsibility to make sure we’re doing it the right way,” Polygon’s co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal, said while discussing Polygon’s India-focused initiatives with Cointelegraph.
Preserving decentralization while ensuring system scalability
“Scalability and decentralization don’t have to be either-or, and that’s exactly the balance we’re focused on at Polygon,” Nailwal said as he underscored the importance of keeping the core values of blockchain intact: security, transparency and decentralization.
At the same time, Nailwal revealed that Polygon is investing heavily in zero-knowledge technology to make scaling more seamless across the ecosystem. “The goal is to give developers and users the best of both worlds: faster, cheaper transactions without compromising trust or decentralization,” he added.
As a result of delivering the combination of low fees, fast transactions and decentralized security, Polygon is already powering some of the most active use cases in Web3, from stablecoin payments on Polygon PoS to real-world tokenization with major institutions:
“The key challenge is making blockchain as seamless and accessible as Web2 without compromising what makes it special. That’s why we’re all-in on ZK technology and Agglayer, which let us scale while keeping the ecosystem trustless and interoperable.”
Bringing blockchain tech to millions of users
According to Nailwal, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work when onboarding 450 million users from India’s diverse population. “We’ll be working closely with Jio to develop use cases that truly resonate with their users, and gradually onboard them onto the chain based on these real-world applications,” he added.
Nailwal said that developers never have to compromise on the fundamentals, as Polygon’s infrastructure can scale without sacrificing what makes blockchain powerful in the first place:
“What excites me most is that we’re moving beyond technical discussions about blockchain to solving real problems for real people. These are the use cases that will drive the next wave of adoption.”
“At the end of the day, it’s about more than just technology. We’re here to create a decentralized future that billions of people can actually use. And while that’s a massive challenge, it’s also what excites me the most,” Nailwal said.
Related: Indian town adopts Avalanche blockchain for tamper-proof land records
Real-world problem solving will drive the next wave of adoption
Rising threats driven by artificial intelligence tools, including deepfakes and other misinformation campaigns, are another use case blockchain technology can help solve. Nailwal said that the escalating threat of misinformation and growing consumer insistence on trusted sources will eventually result in an uptick of blockchain-based verification tools.
Additionally, Nailwal highlighted the growing relevance of Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market, in mainstream finance and reporting. “Polymarket’s success is exactly what we’ve been working toward,” he said, adding:
“Prediction markets are proving to be incredibly valuable tools for finance, risk assessment, journalism and even governance. They pull in insights from a wide range of sources, often making them more reliable than traditional polling.”
Nailwal is placing his full bet on blockchain’s immutable nature to transform economic forecasting, policy-making and journalism, among others.
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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is involved in discussions on establishing strategic digital asset reserves with several countries, its CEO, Richard Teng, reportedly said.
Binance has been advising multiple governments on establishing strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserves and formulating crypto asset regulations, Teng said in an interview with the Financial Times on April 17.
“We have actually received quite a number of approaches by a few governments and sovereign wealth funds on the establishment of their own crypto reserves,” Teng told the FT.
Teng did not identify any countries but said that the United States is “way ahead on that front.”
US fuels global crypto reserve spree
According to Teng, the main reason for governments approaching Binance for help in handling potential strategic reserves is the new crypto-friendly agenda in the US.
Teng referred to key US crypto policy developments, such as discussions around creating a national Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve seeded with BTC forfeited in federal criminal and civil cases.
While governments of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan have announced collaboration with Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao on crypto regulations in the past few weeks, none of the jurisdictions mentioned crypto reserve plans on their agenda.
Binance shifts stance on headquarters
As Binance deepens its involvement in efforts to help countries set up crypto reserves and regulations, it appears to have shifted away from its no-formal-headquarters approach under Zhao.
According to Teng, Binance is “working very hard” on plans for a global headquarters for the exchange.
Related: Crypto Biz: Ripple’s ‘defining moment,’ Binance’s ongoing purge
“It requires serious deliberation and the board and the senior management are spending a lot of time doing the evaluation,” Teng reportedly said, adding: “Hopefully we are able to announce our intentions on that front.”
In 2019, Zhao said that offices and headquarters are “old concepts like SMS and MMS.”
The shift comes as more jurisdictions adopt clearer frameworks for regulating crypto businesses. Binance was subject to heavy scrutiny and investigations by multiple governments in 2020.
Cointelegraph approached Binance for comment regarding its crypto policy collaboration with governments worldwide, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
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