Tax the rich instead of taking money from ‘struggling pensioners’, says Lib Dem leader Ed Davey
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a tax on the wealthiest instead of cutting support for “struggling pensioners”.
Speaking after arriving at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton on a jet ski, Sir Ed said his party is the only one offering up a solution on how to “plug the awful financial mess the Conservatives left us with”.
More than 10 million pensioners will lose winter fuel payments under government plans which have been heavily criticised by opposition MPs, some Labour MPs and charities.
Sir Ed told Sky News he would have levied a capital gains tax against the wealthiest instead.
Sir Ed Davey arrived at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton on a jet ski. Pic: PA
“The Conservatives won’t admit there’s a problem, there is a problem, the financial deficit is large, the Conservatives ran the budget in a very bad way, there needs to be a solution to that,” he said.
“But withdrawing winter fuel payments from struggling pensioners isn’t the solution so we’ve put forward in the House of Commons our solution.
“We’ve said, look at the capital gains tax on the very, very wealthiest.
“So there are alternatives to this. The government doesn’t have to do this.
“It has to clear up the Conservatives’ mess. But there are other ways, much fairer ways to do that.”
Sir Ed continued carrying out stunts as he arrived in Brighton
Sir Ed said his party would also reverse the tax cut the Conservatives gave banks “to deal with the deficit and avoid these painful policies”.
He said it is possible to give the winter fuel payments to all but the wealthiest pensioners and this has been done before with child benefit.
“But that’s not what the government are proposing,” he added.
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The Lib Dems have pledged to be a “constructive opposition”, choosing to do politics differently from the attack method other parties have chosen to adopt.
“We’re going to be the best opposition in parliament, far better than the Conservatives by being constructive, by putting forward alternatives,” Sir Ed said.
“And I think we’re the only group of people doing that, saying this is where you should get the money from to plug the awful financial mess left by the Conservatives.
“Don’t take it from struggling pensioners.”
On Saturday, Labour’s biggest union backer joined calls for a U-turn on the winter fuel payments cut.
A motion to be submitted to Labour‘s conference by Unite says “workers and communities… voted for a better future, not just better management”.
How will Unite’s rebellion on winter fuel affect Starmer?
Labour’s first conference as a party of government in more than a decade was always going to be a carefully calibrated affair.
Too much celebration and jubilation a likely no-no, given the sombre picture Sir Keir Starmer has been painting since moving into Downing Street.
But the party probably hoped to avoid a full-on union showdown.
And yet, that looks to be on the horizon.
The motion being submitted by Unite is scathing – lashing out at the decision to cut winter fuel payments and squaring up to the current gloomy tone being adopted by the government.
Last week’s Commons vote saw just a limited rebellion among MPs.
If this motion makes it to the conference floor, members may not be so loyal to their leader.
That’s not to say any of this should – or will – bother Downing Street.
With a huge majority in parliament, Sir Keir Starmer can afford to rile a few allies now.
Providing he can get them back on side before 2029.
The union’s motion calls the cuts “cruel” and goes on to say: “We need a vision where pensioners are not the first to face a new wave of cuts.”
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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