‘Bairns not bombs’: SNP calls for end to two-child benefit cap and pledges NHS funding boost
The SNP has called for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped and for billions more to be put into the NHS as the party pledged to “end 14 years of austerity” during its manifesto launch.
Speaking in Edinburgh, First Minister John Swinney claimed his was the only major party arguing for an end to the squeeze on public services, saying “arbitrary Tory fiscal rules, adopted by Labour, [would] bake-in more eye-watering cuts”.
Instead, he promised to “protect our public services and our precious NHS”, while scrapping the Trident nuclear deterrent and abolishing the House of Lords.
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“Elected government not ermine clad cronies,” said Mr Swinney. “Lift the two-child cap, not the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Bairns, not bombs. And investment, not cuts.
“I believe these choices represent the values most of us share. They are Scotland’s values. And a vote for the SNP – a vote for this manifesto – is a vote for those values.”
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The first minister also said independence for Scotland remained “at the very heart of our beliefs”, as he insisted the SNP’s majority in the 2021 Holyrood elections gave the party a democratic mandate for a second referendum.
He said if the party secured a majority of MPs north of the border on 4 July, it would “intensify the pressure” on Westminster to allow another vote.
But pushed multiple times by journalists, Mr Swinney refused to say if the SNP would step back from that if it failed to get the most MPs in Scotland.
Instead, he said: “Decisions about Scotland should be made by the people who live in Scotland… for the simple reason that no-one else cares as much about this wonderful country, and no-one else will do a better job of taking care of it, now and in the future, than the people who live here.
“Not independence for its own sake. Independence for the powers to protect our NHS and to help people through tough times, independence for a stronger economy, and happier, healthier lives, and independence for a better future for Scotland – made in Scotland – for Scotland.”
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The 32-page document listed all the party’s main priorities and pledges, with others including:
• Re-joining the EU
• Devolving powers to create a bespoke migration system for Scotland
• Demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
• Supporting full compensation for WASPI women
• Scrapping zero hours contracts and fire/rehire practices
• Scrapping the government’s Rwanda plan
• Decriminalising drugs for personal use
• Maintaining the triple lock on pensions
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On the NHS specifically, the party called for at least £16bn more a year be put into the English service, which in turn would provide an extra £1.6bn to NHS Scotland.
Mr Swinney said SNP MPs would “join with progressive politicians south of the border to press for greater funding”, as well as calling on the UK government to match the pay deals given to NHS staff in Scotland, which saw strikes avoided.
He also promised to introduce a “keep the NHS in public hands” bill, offering “a legal guarantee for a publicly owned, publicly operated health service”.
“The SNP message on the health services is clear, it is simple and it will never change,” he added. “The NHS is not for sale.”
The US Nasdaq stock exchange is making SEC approval of its proposal to offer tokenized versions of stocks listed on the exchange a top priority, according to the exchange’s crypto chief.
“We’ll just move as fast as we can,” Nasdaq’s head of digital assets strategy, Matt Savarese, said during an interview with CNBC on Thursday, when asked whether the SEC could approve the proposal this year.
“I think what we have to really evaluate where the public comments come back in and then answer and respond to the SEC questions as they come through,” Savarese said. “We hope to kind of work with them as quickly as possible,” Savarese said.
Savarese says Nasdaq isn’t “upending the system”
The proposal, submitted by Nasdaq on Sept. 8, is requesting to allow investors to buy and sell stock tokens — digital representations of shares in publicly traded companies — on the exchange.
Savarese emphasized that Nasdaq is not trying to overhaul the way stocks are invested in when asked whether he expects other major exchanges to follow suit.
“We’re not looking at upending the system; we want everyone to come along for that ride and bring tokenization more into the mainstream,” he said.
“We want to do it in that responsible investor-led way first, under the SEC rules themselves,” he added.
It was only in October that Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said that tokenization will “eventually eat the whole financial system.”
The crypto industry is divided on tokenized equities
Savarese emphasized that Nasdaq is aiming to be an innovator in the ecosystem, noting that the exchange was the first to transition markets from paper-based trading to electronic systems.
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Tokenizing stocks has been one of the most significant talking points in the crypto industry this year.
On Sept. 3, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said the company became the first Nasdaq-listed company to tokenize its equity on a major blockchain following its launch on the Solana network.
The conversation around tokenized equities has also drawn skepticism from the crypto industry.
On Oct. 1, Rob Hadick, general partner at crypto venture firm Dragonfly, told Cointelegraph that tokenized equities will be a significant benefit to traditional markets, but may not be a boon to the crypto industry as others have predicted.
Hadick said that if tokenized stocks use layer-2 networks, it creates “leakage” as value and may not flow back to Ethereum or the broader crypto ecosystem as much as hoped.
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Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and head of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, reaffirmed the right to crypto self-custody and privacy in financial transactions.
“I’m a freedom maximalist,” Peirce told The Rollup podcast on Friday, while saying that self-custody of assets is a fundamental human right. She added:
“Why should I have to be forced to go through someone else to hold my assets? It baffles me that in this country, which is so premised on freedom, that would even be an issue — of course, people can hold their own assets.”
Peirce added that online financial privacy should be the standard. “It has become the presumption that if you want to keep your transactions private, you’re doing something wrong, but it should be exactly the opposite presumption,” she said.
The comments came as the Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill that includes provisions for self-custody, anti-money laundering(AML) regulations, and asset taxonomy, is delayed until 2026, according to Senator Tim Scott.
Related: SEC to hold privacy and financial surveillance roundtable in December
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) challenge Bitcoin’s self-custody ethos
Many large Bitcoin (BTC) whales and long-term holders are pivoting from self-custody to ETFs to reap the tax benefits and hassle-free management of owning crypto in an investment vehicle.
“We are witnessing the first decline in self-custodied Bitcoin in 15 years,” Dr. Martin Hiesboeck, the head of research at crypto exchange Uphold, said.
Hiesboeck attributed the shift to the SEC approving in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETFs in July, which allowed authorized holders to exchange crypto for ETF shares and vice versa without triggering a taxable event, unlike cash-settled ETFs.
“A move away from the self-custody mantra of ‘not your keys, not your coins’ is another nail in the coffin of the original crypto spirit,” Hiesboeck added.
In February, notable Bitcoin analyst and investor PlanB, the developer of the BTC stock-to-flow model, announced that he transferred his Bitcoin to ETFs to alleviate the “hassle” of private key management.
PlanB’s announcement caused an outcry in the Bitcoin community, as many voiced concerns that handing over custody to a third party clashed with Bitcoin’s core values.
Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice
Jeremy Corbyn has declined to say his Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana is a friend as supporters of the new grouping gather in Liverpool.
Speaking to Sky News on the eve of the conference, Mr Corbyn acknowledged “stresses and strains” in the set-up of the party but said it had become “a lot better in the last few days and weeks and we’re going to get through this weekend”.
The former Labour leader has publicly clashed with Ms Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, over the launch and structure of the new party.
Asked if they were friends, Mr Corbyn said they were “colleagues in parliament, and we obviously communicate and so on”.
The pair appeared at separate events on the eve of the party’s inaugural gathering.
Ms Sultana had previously claimed she was being “sidelined” by a “sexist boys’ club” within the fledgling party.
Mr Corbyn said her comments were an “unfortunate choice of words” but added that he had been more involved in the organisation of the conference than she had.
The co-founders have had a strained relationship since setting up the party. Pic: Your Party
The Islington North MP also said that Your Party was still waiting for Ms Sultana to transfer all of the funds she had raised from supporters.
“Obviously having money up front for a conference is a big help,” he said.
Ms Sultana has insisted she is transferring the donations in stages.
The weekend gathering in Liverpool will see supporters choose between four options for a permanent party name: Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance, For the Many.
The preferred choice of Ms Sultana – The Left – did not make the ballot.
Similarly, the Coventry MP had said she favoured a co-leader approach, but members will only be able to pick between single leadership or collective leadership models.
Speaking at her own pre-conference rally, Ms Sultana blamed a “nameless, faceless bureaucrat” for restricting the choices.
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The meeting also risked being disrupted by a series of member expulsions. One of those ejected, Lewis Nielsen, accused a “clique” of trying to “take over”.
Your Party sources said expulsions related to members of the Socialist Workers Party and that holding another national party membership was not allowed.
Ms Sultana blamed a “culture of paranoia at the top” and said she believed the same people who had been briefing against her were now also expelling members.
Mr Corbyn will open the conference on Saturday, while the results of the main decision-making votes will be announced on Sunday.
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