Sunak ally Stride does his boss no favours in response to question about PM’s future

Published

11 months ago

June 9, 2024

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It was a question you don’t expect to hear being asked of a senior cabinet minister during an election campaign.

In fact, the last time doubts were raised mid-campaign about whether a beleaguered party leader would make it to polling day was more than 40 years ago.

This time, discussing Rishi Sunak’s D-Day fiasco on Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Mel Stride: “Is he going to lead you into this election?”

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At least the work and pensions secretary – one of the PM’s closest allies – answered in the affirmative.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “And there should be no question of anything other than that.”

But the question has been raised. And by answering it as if it was a fair question rather than brushing it aside, the hapless Mr Stride has done his close friend the PM no favours at all.

In their exchange, Trevor put it to Mr Stride: “Whatever Mr Sunak’s virtues as an administrator, I think lots of people will have looked at that and said, this is the wrong man at the wrong time.

“Would it not be a courageous and moral act for him to announce that he knows he’s leading his party to defeat, partly because of his own actions and his own shortcomings and that he will now step aside to save seats which won’t be saved if he stays for the next four weeks?”

Why has the question been raised? It followed a tweet by Nadine Dorries, who speculated: “I have always said that Cameron was popped into the Lords and into a senior ministerial post for a reason. I thought maybe it was to replace Sunak at an earlier stage.”

And then she added mischievously: “Rumours around tonight that Sunak’s about to fall on his sword. There are no MPs – only ministers. If Sunak does resign, any replacement would have to come from within ministerial ranks.”

Fall on his sword? No prime minister in modern times has ever quit or been forced out during an election campaign. And unless Mr Sunak went voluntarily – extremely unlikely – it’s obviously too late to change leader now parliament is dissolved.

For instance, there are no officers of the 1922 committee to oversee a change, even if a successor was unopposed, as Mr Sunak was when Liz Truss self-destructed. The committee’s inscrutable and famously discreet chairman Sir Graham Brady is not contesting the election.

The remaining members of the ’22 exec, traditionally known as “the men in grey suits” who according to political folklore had the power to hand a failing party leader “a glass of whisky and a pearl-handled revolver in a darkened room”, are in their constituencies fighting to hold their own seats.

But the fact that a change of leader is even being suggested – albeit by the maverick Boris Johnson cheerleader Ms Dorries – reveals two things about the current election campaign.

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One, it confirms just how serious Mr Sunak’s D-Day blunder was. It’s being described as potentially the defining mistake of this election campaign.

And two, it means that even if he limps towards 4 July as Tory leader, he’s on borrowed time.

As for Labour, its rulebook, updated after the death of John Smith in 1994, is clearer. If the leader is “incapacitated” for whatever reason, the deputy leader – currently Angela Rayner – takes over until an election can be held.

The last time doubt was cast during an election campaign about whether a party leader would continue until polling day was in 1983 when Michael Foot was leading Labour to a massive defeat by Margaret Thatcher.

At an early morning news conference at Transport House, then home to the Labour Party and the Transport and General Workers’ Union, Labour’s general secretary Jim Mortimer astonished political journalists.

“The unanimous view of the campaign committee is that Michael Foot is the leader of the Labour Party and speaks for the party,” he said, unprompted. Really? The journalists in the room sat in stunned silence, scarcely believing what they’d heard.

It was the TV broadcaster Clive James, then writing for The Observer, who was the quickest to react. “Oh,” he said. “So there was some debate about it, was there?”

I remember it vividly, because I was there. I recall Mr Mortimer saying: “We’ve had a meeting and we’re all agreed: Michael’s the leader.”

In that election, Margaret Thatcher won a majority of 144 seats. The Tories will hope that after the D-Day catastrophe, Mr Sunak isn’t leading the Conservatives to a defeat as big as that in 2024.

Politics

Australian court ruling could lead to $640M in Bitcoin tax refunds

Published

1 hour ago

May 19, 2025

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Australian court ruling could lead to 0M in Bitcoin tax refunds

A court decision in Australia could open the door to as much as $640 million in capital gains tax (CGT) refunds on Bitcoin transactions after a judge ruled that crypto should be treated as money rather than a taxable asset.

On May 19, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that the decision arose within a criminal case involving federal police officer William Wheatley, who allegedly stole 81.6 Bitcoin (BTC) in 2019. At the time, the assets were worth roughly $492,000. At current market prices, the tokens are valued at more than $13 million.

In the case, Judge Michael O’Connell of Victoria ruled that Bitcoin qualifies as a form of money rather than property, likening the digital asset to Australian dollars rather than to shares, gold or foreign currency.

The interpretation could set a legal precedent, potentially placing Bitcoin transactions outside the scope of Australia’s current CGT regime.

New court ruling challenges Australian crypto tax laws

In an AFR interview, tax lawyer Adrian Cartland said the verdict “totally upends” the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) current position.

Since 2014, the ATO has classified crypto assets as CGT assets. This means that users must pay tax when selling or trading them. Under the ATO’s guidance, any disposal of Bitcoin, including selling it for fiat, exchanging it for another crypto or using it to purchase goods or services, constitutes a CGT event.

This framework has been the basis for taxing cryptocurrency transactions in Australia for over a decade. However, the recent ruling challenges the approach by suggesting that Bitcoin functions more like money than property. This potentially exempts it from CGT.

Tax refunds could reach $640 million

Cartland said it was held that Bitcoin is Australian money. “That is, it is not a CGT asset. Therefore, acquisitions and disposals of Bitcoin have no tax consequences,” the tax lawyer added.

If the ruling is upheld on the appeal, Cartland estimates that there could be potential tax refunds totalling 1 billion Australian dollars ($640 million).

However, while Cartland thinks there could be up to a billion in refunds, the ATO said there were no official figures that confirm the amount to be potentially refunded if the case changes how Bitcoin is taxed in Australia.

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Revolut eyes French license and $1.1B expansion amid EU growth

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

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Revolut eyes French license and .1B expansion amid EU growth

Revolut, a European neobank with crypto support, plans to invest more than 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) in France and apply for a local banking license.

According to a May 19 Fortune report, Revolut representatives announced the initiative during the Choose France business summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The London-based neobank also plans to set up its new European Union-serving headquarters in Paris, promising to invest 1 billion euro and hire at least 200 people within three years.

Revolut spokespeople also said that the firm is in the process of submitting an application to the French banking regulator Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority. According to an anonymous source cited by Fortune, the regulator has been pushing the neobank to get a license to improve supervision due to its popularity in France.

Revolut currently employs about 300 people and serves five million customers in France. This makes the nation the neobank’s top European Union market.

Aiming for the stars

Revolut hopes to onboard 10 million users by the end of next year and then double that number by 2030. The firm already offers loans, trading and cryptocurrency support in its mobile-first banking platform.

The neobank has seen rapid growth ever since its founding in 2015. The company recently received a $45 billion valuation and reportedly served over 55 million customers as of late May.

Revolut’s 2024 annual report release shows that the firm’s 2024 revenue was 3.1 billion British pounds ($4 billion). A recent Financial News article also puts the company’s headcount at 10,133 employees as of Dec. 31, 2024.

An increasingly regulated institution

Revolut obtained its UK banking license in late July 2024, where 11 million of its customers are located. Now, the neobank is aggressively looking to obtain similar permits across other jurisdictions, with 10 applications underway.

Revolut received the Prepaid Payment Instruments license from India’s central bank earlier this month. This license allows the bank to offer multi-currency forex cards and cross-border remittance services in India.

EU-based Revolut customers now leverage its Lithuania operations. The firm received a banking license in Lithuania at the end of 2018, enabling it to serve customers across the European Economic Area better.

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Politics

Dubai regulator sets compliance deadline for updated crypto rules

Published

3 hours ago

May 19, 2025

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Dubai regulator sets compliance deadline for updated crypto rules

Dubai’s crypto regulator has given licensed digital asset companies until June 19 to comply with its updated activity-based Rulebooks to enhance market integrity and risk oversight.

On May 19, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) announced that it had released Version 2.0 of the Rulebooks.

The regulator said it had strengthened controls around margin trading and token distribution services, harmonised compliance requirements across all licensed activities and given clearer definitions for collateral wallet arrangements.

VARA’s team will engage with licensed entities and expects the companies to comply with the updated rules after a 30-day transition period.

“In line with global regulatory best practices, a 30-day transition period has been granted to all impacted virtual asset service providers [VASPs], with full compliance required by 19 June 2025,” VARA wrote.

VARA enhances supervisory mechanisms

VARA highlighted that it had enhanced supervisory mechanisms across several regulated activities. This includes advisory, broker-dealer, custody, exchange, lending and borrowing, virtual asset (VA) management and investment, and VA transfer and settlement services.

A VARA spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the updates will bring consistency across all activity-based rules defining core operational terms. The spokesperson gave examples of terms like “client assets,” “qualified custodians,” and “collateral requirements” as some of the terms more consistently defined in the update.

The update also aligned risk management and disclosure obligations, where activities overlap, in areas like brokerage, custody and exchange.

“The aim was to reduce ambiguity and help VASPs navigate cross-functional compliance more easily,” VARA told Cointelegraph.

Dubai regulator tightens leverage thresholds for margin trading

As for margin trading, the VARA spokesperson said they tightened leverage thresholds, mandated clearer collateralisation standards, and enhanced the monitoring obligations for VASPs offering this feature.

Margin trading allows traders to control large positions with smaller amounts of capital. It amplifies both gains and losses. Tightening the leverage traders use helps limit the risks of widespread liquidations in a market downturn.

The crypto regulator introduced a new section on token distribution that sets out licensing prerequisites, investor protections and marketing restrictions. The spokesperson emphasized the marketing restrictions, especially for “retail-facing offers.”

“It’s about aligning with global conduct expectations and closing observed regulatory gaps,” the VARA spokesperson said.