Bench Across Britain: Labour-safe seat in Sheffield has mixed feelings for Keir Starmer

Published

10 months ago

June 24, 2024

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With betting an unexpected theme of this election, we’ve taken our parliamentary bench to the Sheffield dog track.

Bookies are lined up beside the arena and the people of Sheffield have come for a perfectly legal flutter on which greyhound can run fastest, while chasing a mechanical hare that they will never catch.

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough is one of the most working-class constituencies in the UK – the seventh most deprived in England and Wales.

At the Owlerton Stadium a lot of the punters said they weren’t going to vote, one man in his 80s proudly said he’d never voted, but those who said they are going to the ballot on 4 July, say they want change.

Callum Fradgley, greyhound trainer, said: “I would like to see Labour win it personally, but that’s just a personal choice. I’d like a government that’s going to be more for the working class.”

Neil Kelly, a teacher on a day out with his family, said: “All you need to do is go into a school to see that the spending may be going up but it’s not going up in line with everything else. I work in a school in Sheffield for autistic kids and the facilities we have at some of the sites are frankly Victorian.”

Referring to Labour’s policy to remove the VAT exemption on private school fees, Mr Kelly adds: “I can only see that putting VAT on private schools is going to have a positive impact on public schools, if that spending goes towards public schools.”

Howard Wood, greyhound transporter, told us: “I will vote Labour. I have voted Liberal in the past but then they did a coalition with the Tories, so I’ll never vote for them again. Keir Starmer comes across as a cold person, but he’s a shrewd man and he will be a good leader.”

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough is a safe Labour seat.

It was David Blunkett’s in the Blair/Brown years when it was simply Sheffield Brightside, and Blunkett kept it when the Hillsborough area was added and David Cameron formed his coalition in 2010.

Here, they voted for Ed Miliband in 2015, they voted for Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and 2019. It’s a safe bet they will vote for Starmer in 2024 – but even so there are mix feelings about the current leader of the Labour Party.

Anne Ellis, tote operator and retired midwife, told us: “I’ve always voted Labour, always, but for the first time in my life I’m considering not doing that, because I think they’re far too right-wing for me. And I think it’s time to maybe look at an alternative, maybe the Lib Dems, I’m not sure.”

“I would have had Jeremy Corbyn back,” at this point she laughs, “but not everybody would”.

Darren Driver, greyhound racing commentator, said: “I think I’m like a lot of people, I think the election and the campaign at the moment is just boiling my head because it seems to be constant point-scoring.

“Conservatives saying what Labour aren’t going to do, Labour saying what the Conservatives aren’t going to do, Liberal Democrats saying what both of them aren’t going to do. Stop point-scoring and tell us what you are going to do.”

Joe Wood, greyhound owner and retired welding engineer, said: “I’m very, very undecided ‘cos I can’t stand Labour leader Starmer.

“I know he’s a wild card, but I keep thinking of Reform – just to put the cat among the pigeons. He’s forthright and he don’t waffle like most of them do. Over the years I’ve traditionally been Labour, but they don’t excite me.”

Starmer may not excite everyone at this dog track but he has driven his party to a position where it would be a huge shock if they don’t cross the line in front in this election.

It has been an exhausting journey back to political relevance, but, as it stands, it seems this constituency will get the government they vote for, for the first time in nearly two decades.

Politics

Solana’s Loopscale pauses lending after $5.8M hack

Published

5 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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<div>Solana's Loopscale pauses lending after .8M hack</div>

Solana decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Loopscale has temporarily halted its lending markets after suffering an approximately $5.8 million exploit.

On April 26, a hacker siphoned approximately 5.7 million USDC (USDC) and 1200 Solana (SOL) from the lending protocol after taking out a “series of undercollateralized loans”, Loopscale co-founder Mary Gooneratne said in an X post.

The exploit only impacted Loopscale’s USDC and SOL vaults and the losses represent around 12% of Loopscale’s total value locked (TVL), Gooneratne added.

Loopscale is “working to resume repayment functionality as soon as possible to mitigate unforeseen liquidations,” its said in an X post.

“Our team is fully mobilized to investigate, recover funds, and ensure users are protected,” Gooneratne said.

Solana's Loopscale pauses lending after $5.8M hack — *Loopscale’s ‘Genesis’ lending vaults. Source: Loopscale*

In the first quarter of 2025, hackers stole more than $1.6 billion worth of crypto from exchanges and on-chain smart contracts, blockchain security firm PeckShield said in an April report.

More than 90% of those losses are attributable to a $1.5 billion attack on ByBit, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus Group.

Unique DeFi lending model

Launched on April 10 after a six-month closed beta, Loopscale is a DeFi lending protocol designed to enhance capital efficiency by directly matching lenders and borrowers.

It also supports specialized lending markets, such as “structured credit, receivables financing, and undercollateralized lending,” Loopscale said in an April announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Loopscale’s order book model distinguishes it from DeFi lending peers such as Aave that aggregate cryptocurrency deposits into liquidity pools.

Loopscale’s main USDC and SOL vaults yield APRs exceeding 5% and 10%, respectively. It also supports lending markets for tokens such as JitoSOL and BONK (BONK) and looping strategies for upwards of 40 different token pairs.

The DeFi protocol has approximately $40 million in TVL and has attracted upwards of 7,000 lenders, according to researcher OurNetwork.

Magazine: Ripple says SEC lawsuit ‘over,’ Trump at DAS, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 16 – 22

Politics

US Senator calls for Trump impeachment, cites memecoin dinner

Published

9 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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US Senator calls for Trump impeachment, cites memecoin dinner

United States Senator Jon Ossoff expressed support for impeaching President Donald Trump during an April 25 town hall, citing the President’s plan to host a private dinner for top Official Trump memecoin holders.

“I mean, I saw just 48 hours ago, he is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin,” said Ossoff, a Democrat, according to a report by NBC News.

“When the sitting president of the United States is selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him. There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense.”

Senator Ossoff said he “strongly” supports impeachment proceedings during a town hall in the state of Georgia, where he is running for reelection to the Senate.

The Senator added that an impeachment is unlikely unless the Democratic Party gains control of Congress during the US midterm elections in 2026. Trump’s own Republican Party currently has a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Conflicts of interest

On April 23, the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin’s website announced plans for Trump to host an exclusive dinner at his Washington, DC golf club with the top 220 TRUMP holders.

The website subsequently posted a leaderboard tracking top TRUMP wallets and a link to register for the event. The TRUMP token’s price has gained more than 50% since the announcement, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The specific guest list is unclear, but the memecoin’s website states that applicants must pass a background check, “can not be from a [Know Your Customer] watchlist country,” and cannot bring any additional guests.

On April 25, the team behind TRUMP denied social media rumors that TRUMP holders need at least $300,000 to participate in an upcoming dinner with the president.

“People have been incorrectly quoting #220 on the block explorer as the cutoff. That’s wrong because it includes things like locked tokens, exchanges, market makers, and those who are not participating. Instead, you should only be going off the leaderboard,” they wrote.

Law, Politics, Senate, Donald Trump, trumpcoin, Memecoin — *The TRUMP token jumped on news of the private dinner plans. Source:* *CoinMarketCap*

Legal experts told Cointelegraph that Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures, including the TRUMP memecoin and Trump-affiliated decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol World Liberty Financial, raise significant concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

“Within just a couple of days of him taking office, he’s signed a number of executive orders that are significantly going to affect the way that our crypto and digital assets industry works,” Charlyn Ho of law firm Rikka told Cointelegraph in February.

“So if he has a personal pecuniary benefit arising from his own policies, that’s a conflict of interest.”

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Politics

Crypto sentiment recovers, but weekend liquidity risks remain

Published

11 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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Crypto sentiment recovers, but weekend liquidity risks remain

Crypto investor sentiment has seen a significant recovery from global tariff concerns, but analysts warn that the market’s structural weaknesses may still result in downside momentum during periods of weekend illiquidity.

Risk appetite appeared to return among crypto investors this week after US President Donald Trump adopted a softer tone, saying that import tariffs on Chinese goods may “come down substantially.”

However, the improved investor sentiment “does not guarantee that Bitcoin will avoid volatility over the weekend,” analysts from Bitfinex exchange told Cointelegraph:

“Sentiment improvements reduce fragility, but they do not eliminate structural risks like thin weekend liquidity.”

“Historically, weekends remain vulnerable to sharp moves — especially when open interest is high and market depth is low,” the analysts said, adding that unexpected macroeconomic news can still increase volatility during low liquidity periods.

Bitcoin (BTC) staged a near 11% recovery during the past week, but its rally has previously been limited by Sunday liquidity dynamics.

Bitcoin fell below $75,000 on Sunday, April 6, despite initially decoupling from the US stock market’s $3.5 trillion drop on April 4 after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that Trump’s tariffs may affect the economy and raise inflation.

The correction was exacerbated by the lack of weekend liquidity and the fact that Bitcoin was the only large liquid asset available for de-risking, industry watchers told Cointelegraph.

“While improved sentiment creates a more stable foundation, cryptocurrency markets are still susceptible to rapid movements during periods of reduced trading volume,” according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer of RedStone blockchain oracle firm.

“The sentiment recovery provides some cushioning, but traders should remain cautious as weekend liquidity constraints can still amplify price movements regardless of the current market mood,” he told Cointelegraph.

Crypto investors may have “maxed out on tariff-related fears”

Cryptocurrency markets may have priced in the full extent of tariff-related concerns, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen.

“It feels like we’ve maxed out on tariff-related fear,” she told Cointelegraph, adding:

“While many remain uncertain about where things are headed over the next month or so, it also seems like markets were just waiting for the slightest signal that we’re back in the game.”

“Whether the rally is sustainable depends on whether we can break through previous resistance levels, at least in isolation. It could have legs, as markets now seem to believe there’s a ‘Trump put’ under equities, the US dollar and US Treasurys,” Barthere added, warning of more potential volatility amid the upcoming negotiations.

Nansen previously predicted a 70% chance that crypto markets will bottom and start a recovery by June, but highlighted that the timing will depend on the outcome of tariff negotiations.

The tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach a trade agreement with China, which may be the “big prize” for Trump’s administration, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.