Keir Starmer raised his game as Rishi Sunak fell flat in Sky News leaders’ event

Published

11 months ago

June 13, 2024

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No wonder Rishi Sunak wanted a head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer. After being credited with a narrow win in last week’s ITV debate, here he came off second best.

The prime minister was flat under tough interrogation from Sky News political editor Beth Rigby. And he found the audience was hostile towards him on the NHS, the economy and even immigration.

It’s no surprise, then, that the YouGov snap poll published less than half an hour after the programme finished scored the performances as 64% for Sir Keir and just 36% for Mr Sunak.

What a turnaround in just over a week.

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From the outset, Sir Keir clearly realised he needed to raise his game after last week, when he was too sluggish in challenging or rebutting Mr Sunak’s £2,000 Labour tax grab allegation.

By the time the 90-minute programme was nearing its finish, Mr Sunak looked deflated by the audience criticism and almost as if he couldn’t wait for it to end.

Mr Sunak even stumbled into a blunder that will reinforce his critics’ claim that this millionaire prime minister is out of touch with the cost of living plight ordinary people are facing.

When a father asked about his daughter’s struggle to buy a house, Mr Sunak talked about a property costing £425,000. In Grimsby? Oh dear. Really, prime minister!

A Rightmove search for Grimsby reveals that out of 914 properties currently listed for sale in the town, only 13 are up for £425,000 or more. His political opponents will seize on that.

After his pummelling on tax last week, Sir Keir wasted no time in hitting back, declaring he’d take no lectures from the Tories on the matter. And later, tackled by a member of the audience, he took time to make the case for Labour’s controversial policy of VAT on private schools.

“It’s a tax break we are removing,” he said. “It’s not a new tax.” And his plea for raising standards in state schools with the money saved won applause.

This was a much stronger performance from Sir Keir than last week. He raised his game: this time the KC and ex-Director of Public Prosecutions was more Rumpole Of The Bailey than Mark Darcy from the Bridget Jones films.

For instance, he kept talking when Beth Rigby tried to cut him short. Naughty, but determined. Here, he was much more assertive than last week.

Mr Sunak, on the other hand, was flat compared with his combative performance on ITV. He had to apologise for his D-Day snub not once but twice, begging for forgiveness again.

The D-Day fiasco appears to have damaged the prime minister’s confidence – and it won’t have been helped by several heckles from a hostile audience. Even on the Tories’ supposed strong subject of immigration, he appeared to struggle.

He was thrown by a question from Rigby about why he called the election before the first Rwanda flights are due to take off and, surprisingly for a prime minister with a reputation as a spreadsheet wizard, he didn’t know the numbers on questions about net migration.

Towards the end of the audience’s harsh questioning of Mr Sunak, a former Tory activist attacked him not only on his D-Day blunder, but also on the Queen being left alone at Prince Philip’s funeral during the Boris Johnson partygate scandal.

The audience reaction to Mr Sunak here confirmed that many voters want to punish the Conservatives for the failings of past prime ministers Mr Johnson and Liz Truss, and not just for the past two years.

Sir Keir now leaves Grimsby for Labour’s manifesto launch in the morning in good heart. For Mr Sunak, this was a bad night and unless there’s a Tory recovery soon, the mood among the party’s candidates and activists will be grim and potentially mutinous.

There are still three weeks until polling day, of course. But with consistently bad opinion polls, already time is running out for Mr Sunak and the Conservatives.

Sir Keir even said at one point: “The first day we get into government.” Beth Rigby instantly picked him up on his momentary lapse. He just smiled.

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Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Published

2 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Bitcoin’s fluctuating correlation with US equities is raising questions about its role as a global safe-haven asset during periods of financial stress.

Bitcoin (BTC) exhibited a strong negative correlation with the US stock market when analyzing the short-term, seven-day trailing correlation, according to new research from blockchain data provider RedStone Oracles, shared exclusively with Cointelegraph.

However, RedStone said that the 30-day indicator signals a “variable correlation” between Bitcoin price and the S&P 500 index, with the correlation coefficient ranging from -0.2 to 0.4.

This fluctuating correlation suggests that Bitcoin “doesn’t consistently function as a true hedge for equities” due to its lack of a strong negative correlation below -0.3, which is needed for “reliable counter movement during market stress,” the report said.

The research suggests that while Bitcoin may not be a dependable hedge against stock market declines, it offers value as a portfolio diversifier.

This fluctuating dynamic signals that Bitcoin often moves independently from other assets, potentially offering additional returns while other assets are struggling. Still, Bitcoin has yet to mirror the safe-haven dynamics of gold and government bonds, RedStone suggests.

Bitcoin needs to “mature” before decoupling from stock market

While Bitcoin is poised to grow into a safe-haven asset in the future, the world’s first cryptocurrency still needs to “mature” as a global asset, according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer at RedStone.

“Bitcoin still needs to mature before decoupling from stock markets,” Kazmierczak told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Increased institutional adoption will absolutely help — we’re already seeing this effect with corporate treasury investments reducing Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility and with BlackRock repetitively praising BTC as an asset in a portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin will see growing recognition as a portfolio diversifier, with an annualized return of over 230% for the past five years, which “significantly outperformed” both stocks and traditional safe-haven assets, Kazmierczak said, adding that “even a small 1–5% Bitcoin allocation can meaningfully enhance a portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s declining volatility supports BTC’s growing maturity as a global financial asset. Bitcoin’s weekly volatility hit a 563-day low on April 30, a development that may signal more stable price action.

Bitcoin’s price volatility fell below the realized volatility of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, signaling that investors are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a long-term investment vehicle, Cointelegraph reported on May 13.

Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

Politics

Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe will not be charged over alleged ‘verbal threats’

Published

3 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe will not be charged over alleged 'verbal threats'

Former Reform MP Rupert Lowe will not be charged after facing allegations of making threats, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said after considering a number of witness statements they have concluded that there is “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.

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He added: “The Crown Prosecution Service’s function is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent, and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.

“Based on the careful consideration of this evidence, we have decided that our legal test for a criminal prosecution has not been met.”

Mr Lowe was suspended by Reform UK and reported to police following allegations that the MP threatened violence towards party chairman Zia Yusuf.

He always denied wrongdoing and claimed he was the victim of a witch hunt after speaking out against party leader Nigel Farage in the media.

In a lengthy statement following the CPS’s decision, the Great Yarmouth MP said he was referred to the police in “a sinister attempt to weaponise the criminal justice system against me – putting not just my political future, but my liberty at risk”.

He said this was “all because I dared to raise constructive criticisms of Nigel Farage, stood firm on deporting illegal migrants, and pushed for Reform to be run democratically – not as a vehicle to stroke one man’s ego”.

Reform responded “with a brutal smear campaign”, he said, claiming figures in the party briefed journalists he had dementia.

Farage ‘a coward and a viper’

Mr Lowe said: “I am ashamed to have shared a parliamentary platform with them. Ashamed to have trusted them. Ashamed to have called them friends. Farage is no leader – he is a coward and a viper. I feel deeply embarrassed that I ever thought he was the man to lead.

“It’s my view that the police process was weaponised to silence a party colleague who raised reasonable concerns.

“If Farage were ever to control the vast power of the British state, I believe he would not hesitate to do to his adversaries what they have tried to do to me. With real power, I fear he would wield that immense responsibility to crush dissent – as he has done time and again over the years.

“Smearing my innocent staff in a pathetic attempt to attack me was disgusting, alongside briefings to journalists from senior Reform figures suggesting I had dementia – the lowest, vilest tactics I have seen in my 67 years. They are not fit to lead. They are not fit to be MPs.”

Mr Lowe went onto say that “for the good of our country, Nigel Farage must never be prime minister”.

In a hint at his political future he added: “When the time soon comes, we will work together to advance a political movement that is credible, professional, decent, democratic and honest. There will, very soon, be an alternative to the rotten leadership of Reform.

“You’ll be hearing a lot more from me, very soon.”

Sky News has contacted Reform UK for comment.

The row poses danger for a party that has its sights on entering government at the next election after a meteoric rise in the polls.

It broke out in March after Mr Lowe gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he said it was “too early to know” if Mr Farage will become prime minister and warned Reform remains a “protest party led by the Messiah” under the Clacton MP.

Soon after, Reform UK announced it had referred him to police and suspended him, alleging he made “verbal threats” against chairman Zia Yousaf.

The party also claimed it had received complaints from two female employees about bullying in his constituency offices, which he also denied.

Mr Lowe was one of the five Reform MPs elected to parliament in July and now sits as an independent.

He previously sat as the chairman of Southampton Football Club before entering politics.

During Mr Farage’s online falling out with Elon Musk in January, in which the world’s richest man said Reform needed a new leader, Mr Lowe drew praise from Mr Musk.

Politics

Ex-SEC Chair Gary Gensler privately supported crypto — McHenry

Published

5 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Ex-SEC Chair Gary Gensler privately supported crypto — McHenry

Former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler may not have been as hostile to crypto behind closed doors as he appeared to be in public, according to former US Representative Patrick McHenry.

In a May 13 appearance on the Crypto in America podcast, McHenry revealed that during private meetings with Gensler, the former regulator expressed a far more nuanced view of digital assets.

“Did he come across, or was he as anti-crypto in private as he did in public?” McHenry was asked. His response: “No… Nope.”

McHenry noted that Gensler “saw the value of digital assets” and acknowledged the potential of blockchain technology during his time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Gerald Gallagher, general counsel at Sei Labs, also noted that Gensler played a role in developing the concept of the airdrop during his academic work, calling it a largely forgotten chapter in his background.

However, once Gensler became SEC chair, McHenry said, his stance shifted dramatically. “I had this weird, mistaken, stupid belief that he wouldn’t be that bad as SEC chair,” McHenry admitted. “And I mean, just the level of dismay.”

Gensler’s crypto stance was “confusing”

McHenry said discussions with Gensler on crypto regulation were often confusing.

McHenry said conversations with Gensler about legal frameworks and content structures often started off as reasonable, but quickly became contradictory. He described how Gensler would initially agree with certain points, only to later reject the same facts he had acknowledged moments earlier.

According to McHenry, Gensler’s public opposition may have been shaped more by “Senate politics and confirmation politics than anything else.”

After departing the SEC on Jan. 20, Gensler returned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to teach fintech and AI.

Under Gensler’s tenure, which started in 2021, the SEC took an aggressive regulatory stance toward crypto, bringing upward of 100 regulatory actions against industry companies.

The regulatory hostility caused Gensler and his team much scrutiny and backlash from industry leaders.

In December 2024, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the crypto exchange would sever ties with law firms employing former SEC officials involved in what he said was an effort to “unlawfully kill” the crypto industry.