Green co-leader rejects Liz Truss comparison over borrowing

Published

10 months ago

June 20, 2024

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The co-leader of the Greens has rejected comparisons with Liz Truss for proposing to borrow COVID levels of money to fund his party’s manifesto programme.

Adrian Ramsay, who leads the Greens alongside Carla Denyer, did not reject that his party would spend £325bn over the course of the parliament to invest in public services.

But speaking to Sophy Ridge, Sky News’ lead politics presenter, Mr Ramsay denied the suggestion his proposals could be likened to those put forward by the former prime minister whose economic plans unravelled and forced her from office.

According to the House of Commons library, the total cost of the government’s COVID-19 measures ranges from about £310bn to £410bn.

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The numbers in the Green Party’s manifesto were crunched by Sky News economics editor Ed Conway and total £325bn.

Put to him that his party could borrow that figure to fund spending, Mr Ramsay said: “Our proposal is that over the course of the parliament, the extra spending that we would have on day-to-day spending would be funded by increased day-to-day taxes.”

He added: “This is money that’s being borrowed for investment. Investment in things like our school buildings that are crumbling, hospital buildings.”

The Green Party’s manifesto, launched last week, promised to “mend broken Britain” through a programme of investment paid for by the “very richest” in society.

It includes a 1% annual wealth tax on assets above £10m and 2% on assets above £1bn, along with reforms to Capital Gains Tax to align with workers’ income tax, and removing the upper earnings limit on national insurance.

The Greens believe this could raise up to £70bn a year, with their plans to introduce a carbon tax adding another £80bn to the government’s coffers.

But unlike some of their rivals, the Greens have also made clear they are “prepared to borrow to invest”, rather than be “trapped by a self-imposed fiscal straitjacket”.

Challenged on the choice of language – which Ridge said mirrored that used by Ms Truss – Mr Ramsay said the key difference with the former Tory leader was that she “borrowed to give tax breaks to the very richest in society”.

“We’re talking about investing in a future that will be better for everybody,” he argued.

“And we need to bring about those changes because we have high levels of inequality. We have changes in the climate that are running away with themselves. And the climate experts are always, always very clear. The costs of not acting on the climate emergency are far greater than the costs of acting.”

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Mr Ramsay also defended increasing tax on people earning more than £50,000 by changing national insurance for those who earn over that threshold.

“Our proposal is that national insurance is changed so that everybody pays the same percentage of their salary on national insurance, regardless of what they earn,” he said.

“I’m not saying £50,000 is too high a salary,” he added.

“Someone earning £55,000 on our proposals would pay £5 extra a week, but let’s look at what they’d get for that – because at the moment we have a situation where people are forking out for a private dentist because there’s no access to NHS dentists, they’re paying exorbitant rail fares, they’re paying high energy and food bills.

“Green proposals are about tackling the cost of living crisis, and the causes of why people are having to fork out those things, and we’d all be better off overall if we put the investment in.”

You can watch the full interview with Adrian Ramsay on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge from 7pm on Thursday.

Politics

Trump tariff negotiations are ‘all about’ China deal — Raoul Pal

Published

32 mins ago

April 8, 2025

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Trump tariff negotiations are ‘all about’ China deal — Raoul Pal

Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.

Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.

However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.

“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:

“That is the big prize and both China and the US understand it and need it. Everything else is negotiation posturing. China needs a weaker $ and the US needs tariffs.”

“Also, the US is trying to shut down China tariff arbitrage using other channels such as Mexico or Vietnam,” Pal said.

China retaliates with new tariffs

Considering China’s latest retaliatory measures, a resolution remains unlikely in the short term.

In response to US tariffs, China imposed a 34% tariff on all US imports effective April 10, media outlet Xinhua News reported on April 4. China’s foreign ministry also vowed to “fight till the end” against Trump’s tariffs, which it called “bullying” by the world’s largest economy.

China overtook the US in 2012 to become the world’s largest trading nation by the total value of exports and imports, surpassing $4 trillion in goods trade that year, according to The Guardian.

Crypto markets watch trade outcome closely

As the trade dispute continues to evolve, analysts say a potential agreement between the two global superpowers could serve as a key catalyst for recovery in digital asset markets.

Crypto markets have a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.

Investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin will depend on the global tariff responses from other countries, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.

“We have reached somewhat of a local bottom in regard to tariffs and the impact on prices,” the analyst said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:

“Trump came out guns blazing, and we’ve mostly seen the worst from the US side, so we’ll see if other countries are willing to drop some of the tariffs because it’s very likely the US will do the same.”

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

Politics

Nigerian court postpones Binance tax evasion case to end of April: Report

Published

3 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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Nigerian court postpones Binance tax evasion case to end of April: Report

A Nigerian court has reportedly delayed the country’s tax evasion case against Binance until April 30 to give time for Nigeria’s tax authority to respond to a request from the crypto exchange.

Reuters reported on April 7 that a lawyer for Binance, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, asked a court the same day to invalidate an order allowing for court documents to be served to the company via email.

Binance doesn’t have an office in Nigeria and Ikwuazom claimed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) didn’t get court permission to serve court documents to Binance outside the country.

“On the whole the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025 on Binance who is … registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands is improper and should be set aside,” he said.

FIRS sued Binance in February, claiming the exchange owed $2 billion in back taxes and should be made to pay $79.5 billion for damages to the local economy as its its operations allegedly destabilized the country’s currency, the naira, which Binance denies.

It also reportedly alleged that Binance is liable to pay corporate income tax in Nigeria, as it has a “significant economic presence” there, with FIRS requesting a court order for the exchange to pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10% annual penalty on unpaid amounts along with a nearly a 27% interest rate on the unpaid taxes.

Nigeria’s legal history with Binance

In February 2024, Nigeria arrested and detained Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla on tax fraud and money laundering charges. The country dropped the tax charges against both in June and the remaining charge against Gambaryan in October.

Anjarwalla managed to slip his guards and escape Nigerian custody to Kenya in March last year and is apparently still at large.

Gambaryan, a US citizen, returned home in October after reports suggested his health had deteriorated during his detainment with reported cases of pneumonia, malaria and a herniated spinal disc that may need surgery.

Binance stopped its naira currency deposits and withdrawals in March 2024, effectively leaving the Nigerian market.

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Politics

Sam and Starmer – what did PM actually mean?

Published

5 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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Sam and Starmer – what did PM actually mean?

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It’s the final episode before recess so Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy wonder, given the turbulent times, who’ll be the first to call for Parliament to be recalled?

And talking of the Lib Dems, there’s some new polling which might put a spring into the step of Ed Davey – is his party’s position on Trump and trade doing them some favours?

Of course, there’s plenty of time to talk about the onslaught of US tariffs and implications for the UK – watch out for if the PM is asked about fiscal headroom when he appears before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs later.

Sam and Anne also ponder the PM’s response to Sam at a Q&A yesterday.