Starmer says Sunak was ‘bullied’ into action over gambling scandal – as Metropolitan Police investigates ‘small number of cases’

Published

10 months ago

June 27, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of being “bullied into action” over the election gambling scandal after a question over politicians’ “lack of integrity and honesty” in the final TV debate.

As the debate in Nottingham came to an end, the Metropolitan Police released a statement saying it was taking on a “small number of cases” to assess whether some of those involved have committed misconduct in public office. The Gambling Commission will continue to probe alleged breaches of the Gambling Act, it said.

The first audience member to grill the two leaders at the BBC debate said allegations of betting on the election have left many “dismayed”.

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Sir Keir compared the scandal to ‘partygate’, saying: “You have to lead from the front on issues like this.

“When one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift.

“The prime minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking action.”

Mr Sunak responded: “It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.”

He added that he is “furious” and “frustrated” over the allegations.

Police to look at claims of misconduct in public office

Scotland Yard was responding to reports in The Sun that the Met is taking over the entire Westminster gambling investigation.

It said in a statement on Wednesday evening: “The Met is not taking over the investigation into bets on the timing of the general election.

“The Gambling Commission will continue to lead the investigation into cases where the alleged offending is limited to breaches of the Gambling Act only.

“Met detectives will lead on investigating a small number of cases to assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office. We will provide further information tomorrow.”

At least five Conservatives have been embroiled in claims they placed bets on the vote, alongside one from Labour.

Wednesday’s debate was the last before voters go to the ballot box on 4 July. A Sky News snap poll suggests the public viewed their performance equally.

The first section was somewhat overshadowed by loud shouting from protesters outside the building.

Referencing the noise, presenter Mishal Husain said the protest, which was in support of the people of Gaza, was an example of “democracy” and people “expressing their freedom of speech”.

Throughout the 75-minute debate, Mr Sunak repeated pleas to stop Labour “surrendering” the public’s finances and Britain’s borders, claiming they will put up taxes if voted into Downing Street.

Sir Keir made several references to his experience as director of public prosecutions, suggesting it evidences his ability to “smash the gangs” behind people smuggling, reduce small boat crossings, and protect women’s spaces.

Asked about gender recognition certificates for transgender people, both men agreed single-sex spaces should be defined by “biological sex”. But Sir Keir said he wanted to “stop the business of always trying to divide people”.

On getting people back to work, Mr Sunak put forward policies to tighten out-of-work benefits after 12 months.

Sir Keir said the answer is to reduce NHS waiting lists to ensure more people off long-term sick can re-enter the workforce. He also insisted that Tory promises of tax cuts are “unfunded”.

Audience accuses leaders of being ‘mediocre’

One member of the audience accused the prime minister of being “fairly mediocre”, while also claiming Sir Keir was having his “strings pulled by senior members of the Labour Party”.

In response, Mr Sunak said he “understood” people’s frustrations – with the Tories – but also “with me” – imploring people to “think about what a Labour government would mean” for their finances and whether they can afford it.

Sir Keir referenced his working with the police on the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland as head of the Crown Prosecution Service and his reform of the Labour Party as proof he keeps to his word.

But he added that “after 14 years of this”, he is not surprised people feel “the hope has been beaten out of them”.

When quizzed by an audience member who had lost European business since Brexit, the Labour leader pledged to “get a better deal” with the EU.

Mr Sunak claimed, however, that would mean “freedom of movement through the back door”.

On housing and the challenges of home ownership for young people, Mr Sunak repeated manifesto pledges to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers and re-introduce the right-to-buy scheme.

Sir Keir said he would work to reduce high rents that eradicate people’s savings and introduce low-deposit mortgages.

Tories to address business leaders as Labour pledge on careers

The Conservatives are focusing on their business policies on Thursday, with trade secretary Kemi Badenoch set to speak at the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference.

She will say: “We recognise that innovation and competition are the powerful forces that bring us prosperity and lift living standards.

“For Labour, on the other hand, private business is just a vehicle to pursue their political objectives – a managed economy, heavily regulated, heavily taxed and weighed down by trade union demands.”

Labour, by contrast, is honing in on education, by promising two weeks’ work experience for all young people.

The party says it will do this by recruiting 1,000 careers advisers and building relationships between employers, schools, and colleges.

Their analysis claims one million children risk not having access to the right job opportunities and career advice over the next five years – should the Conservatives stay in power.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson says one million young people could benefit from her plans.

Politics

Solana’s Loopscale pauses lending after $5.8M hack

Published

6 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

12 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.