Vaughan Gething: Wales’s first minister loses confidence vote
Wales’s first minister has lost a confidence vote.
Twenty-nine members of the Senedd voted in favour of the motion of no confidence in Vaughan Gething, while 27 voted against.
Mr Gething has only been first minister since March, but in that time he has faced questions over a controversial £200k donation to his leadership campaign from a man convicted of environmental offences.
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He said the donations had been made in line with party protocols and has refused calls to return the money.
The motion of no confidence was put forward by the Conservatives, the largest opposition group in the Senedd (Welsh parliament).
Despite losing, Mr Gething does not have to step down as the vote is not binding, but it does put further pressure on the embattled leader.
He has made clear in the aftermath of the debate he will not resign as first minister and will continue in post.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has given his backing to the party’s leader in Wales, telling reporters on the campaign trail Mr Gething was doing a “good job”.
Vaughan Gething was elected first minister in March
‘Not a gimmick’
Introducing the motion tabled by his party, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said it was “not a gimmick”.
“This was talked of prior to the general election,” he said.
“It is about judgement, honesty and transparency.”
Leader of Plaid Cymru, the pro-independence party, denied the motion was “tribal party politics”.
“We must be different to Westminster, not only in words but in deeds too,” he said.
“Today, we, these benches, are acting in what we firmly believe in the interests of the people of Wales.”
Vaughan Gething. Pic: Reuters
But chair of the Welsh Labour group in the Senedd, Vikki Howells, said the motion was “politics at its worst” and was a “cynical Tory gimmick”.
“With the Tory party tanking in the polls…it’s no wonder that they will do anything, anything at all to try and shift the spotlight from their own record of abject failure,” she said.
One Labour member, Joyce Watson, said the decision to hold the confidence vote on the eve of the D-Day anniversary was “disrespectful” to veterans.
Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds said she no longer had confidence in the first minister.
But she said she had “never voted in a vote of confidence here in the Senedd” and had in fact voted to confirm Mr Gething as first minister in March.
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‘Mistakes’
Responding to the debate, Wales’s first minister said he has “made and will continue to make mistakes”.
“It does hurt deeply when my intentions are questioned,” Mr Gething added.
“I will not shy away from scrutiny and challenge.”
He reiterated that all rules had been followed.
Speaking after the vote, Mr Gething said it was a “very disappointing afternoon”.
“To go into the Senedd for what is a transparent gimmick in the general election, led by the Welsh Conservatives, to go into a position where the ill-health in two of our members has affected the outcome of the vote,” he said.
“And as I said, on ill-health grounds, we have always paired. That means you even up people from one party to another.
“We did that for more than three months for the leader of the Welsh Conservatives.”
He said he was “proud” to be first minister of Wales.
“To serve and lead my country. That’s what I’ve done today. That’s what I’ll carry on doing,” he added.
Read more:
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As well as questions over donations, Mr Gething has in recent weeks faced accusations he misled the COVID Inquiry over deleted messages and sacked one of his ministers for allegedly leaking information to the media.
That former minister was one of two Labour members who were absent for the confidence vote.
Neither Hannah Blythyn nor former transport minister Lee Waters voted.
Plaid Cymru then withdrew from a cooperation deal they had with the Labour government in which the party lent its support on dozens of key policy areas.
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.
Related: New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state payments
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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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.
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.
Related: Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO
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.
Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom
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.
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.
Related: SEC dropping Ripple case is ‘final exclamation mark’ that XRP is not a security — John Deaton
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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