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A cabinet minister has denied top Labour politicians personally intervened to give Taylor Swift a blue-light police escort to Wembley.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan allegedly spoke to the Metropolitan Police to encourage them to give the megastar a “VVIP escort” through London in August for her Wembley Stadium concerts.

The Met were reportedly reluctant to sign it off as a blue-light escort is typically reserved for senior members of the Royal Family and high-level politicians, as it comes at huge expense to the taxpayer, The Sun reported.

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Swift’s mother Andrea, who is also her manager, apparently threatened to pull her daughter’s three shows if the police convoy was not provided.

Days before, the musician was forced to axe her shows in Vienna due to a foiled suicide bomb plot targeting her Eras tour, which the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later said was intended to kill tens of thousands of people.

Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour.
Pic: Invision/AP
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Taylor Swift pictured performing at Wembley Stadium in July. Pic: Invision/AP

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News she “utterly rejected” there was “any kind of wrongdoing” by the Labour government or London’s Labour mayor.

She said “you would expect” the home secretary and the mayor to be involved in a conversation “where there is a security risk”, such as after the Vienna bomb plot.

“It’s an operational matter for the police, not for the government,” she told Sky News.

Fans gather outside Wembley Stadium ahead of Taylor Swift's latest Eras Tour concert. 
Pic: PA
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Fans gather outside Wembley Stadium ahead of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour concert. Pic: PA

The minister added Ms Cooper will have made a “considered judgement about that and expressed a view”.

She added: “Don’t forget that when it comes to Taylor Swift, what had just happened was that a series of concerts have been cancelled in Vienna because of the very serious security threat.

“I really utterly reject that there’s been any kind of wrongdoing or undue influence in this case.”

Ms Nandy said no politician, not even the prime minister, “has the power to override the police on this matter”.

Leading Conservative MP James Cleverly, currently the frontrunner to win the Tory leadership, has written to the home secretary asking if it is true she intervened to grant “VVIP protection” to Swift.

He also asked her whether any minister spoke to Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley about protection for Swift and if they were offered tickets to her concerts before or after decisions about her protection were made.

Mr Cleverly said motorcycle escorts provided by the Met “are not for use by private individuals or as traffic assistants for popstars”.

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Taylor Swift performs on stage during her Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium in London. Picture date: Thursday August 15, 2024. George Thompson/PA Wire
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Swift’s mother, who is her manager, reportedly threatened to pull the three August shows at Wembley. Pic: PA

A Home Office source told Sky News “this was an operational decision for the police”.

“Of course, when events of this scale take place you would expect the government, the Mayor’s Office and the Met Police to work together to ensure they can be held safely and securely,” they said.

Mr Khan’s spokesman said: “We don’t comment on the Met’s security arrangements – they are operational decisions for them.”

Sky News understands Mr Khan and Ms Cooper did discuss the tour’s security arrangements. Tickets provided to the mayor were not from Swift’s team and were offered before any security discussions took place, it’s also understood.

Yvette Cooper arrives at Downing Street.
Pic: PA
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Yvette Cooper and Sadiq Khan discussed Swift’s security. Pic: PA

Pic: Reuters
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The London mayor attended one of Swift’s Wembley gigs. Pic: Reuters

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A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “The Met is operationally independent.

“Our decision making is based on a thorough assessment of threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each case.

“It is our longstanding position that we don’t comment on the specific details of protective security arrangements.”

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Kemi Badenoch says UK target to reach net zero by 2050 ‘impossible’

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Kemi Badenoch says UK target to reach net zero by 2050 'impossible'

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has dismayed green Conservatives by declaring the UK’s target to reach net zero by 2050 “impossible”.

In a speech on Tuesday, the Conservative Party leader is expected to tell what she says is the “unvarnished truth” that the net zero goal cannot be achieved without “a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”.

Ms Badenoch will say she is not making a “moral judgement” on net zero or debating whether climate change exists.

But, as she begins to renew party policy, she will say that current climate policies are “largely failing” to improve nature and “driving up the cost of energy”.

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Net zero means cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, which cause climate change, to virtually zero, and absorbing the rest elsewhere.

Scientists say the world must reach that point by 2050 to avoid even worse flooding, wildfires, and other damage – but that action is lagging behind.

The UK has already cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half.

The next half is expected to be more challenging as it requires changes to people’s heating, cars and diet – things that often need upfront costs, but could save people money in the long run with the right government support, advisers have said.

Ms Badenoch’s plans take the Conservative Party to its most sceptical position on net zero yet – a target set in law by Tory Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019.

And it comes at a time when Reform UK is questioning climate science and US President Donald Trump, leader of the second most polluting country in the world, is dismantling nature protections.

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Kemi Badenoch heckled by climate protesters on Monday

Ms Badenoch’s “policy renewal” she is outlining on Tuesday will see shadow cabinet members set core priority questions as a move towards formulating new policy for the party.

Sam Hall, of the Conservative Environment Network of 50 MPs, said it was “a mistake” for Ms Badenoch to have “jumped the gun on her own policy review and decided net zero isn’t possible by 2050”.

He said the Tory leader was right to question Labour’s climate plans, but that the target is driven “not by optimism but by scientific reality; without it climate change impacts and costs will continue to worsen”.

Abandoning the science would risk losing voter’s support, he added.

This may be an inflection point for goodwill towards climate action in Tory Party

The UK public has long been supportive of government climate action – that’s true across voters of different parties too.

Labour capitalised on this in last year’s general election and swooped to victory with a green mandate.

Rishi Sunak’s attempts to roll back some climate policies flopped, and polling by More In Common found Labour’s arguments that clean power and climate action are the best way to tackle the cost of living cut through with people. For now, at least.

The tide of climate scepticism has been rising since Sunak’s days, with Reform UK questioning climate science altogether and Kemi Badenoch now calling the 2050 target “impossible” – though she did stress she doesn’t want to dismantle it and that she does believe in climate change. And she’s not wrong that it is going to be hard.

Given the strong public support for climate action, it’s not surprising Sunak’s attempt to politicise the issue didn’t work out for him.

But now others following in his footsteps have been emboldened by US President Donald Trump. Their attacks are gathering speed – and they might start to take root.

This may be an inflection point for goodwill towards climate action in the Conservative Party – which has a long legacy of supporting it – and more broadly in the UK.

Labour cannot take public support for its net zero plans for granted at a time when political consensus on it is fracturing.

And given the next stage of the country’s climate action is about to get more disruptive for people, it is just when it needs this public support more than ever.

Four in five Conservative voters in last year’s general election and two thirds of Reform voters thought it was important that the government cared about tackling climate change, according to polling by More in Common.

Shaun Spiers, executive director of thinktank Green Alliance, called it “disappointing” to see Ms Badenoch “turn her back on cleaner, cheaper, homegrown energy”.

“It is even more disappointing to see the leader of the opposition take cues from climate deniers across the pond,” he added, in a veiled swipe at President Trump.

“Net zero is not ‘nice-to-have’, it’s an achievable, evidence-based target designed to protect the UK from the worst impacts of climate change.”

The UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises governments on how to reach net zero, said last month the goal is “ambitious” but “deliverable”.

But it also warned as Labour took office last summer that, at that time, just one third of the cuts to greenhouse gases needed to reach an interim 2030 target were covered by a “credible plan”.

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Hashdex amends S-1 for crypto index ETF, adds seven altcoins

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Hashdex amends S-1 for crypto index ETF, adds seven altcoins

Hashdex amends S-1 for crypto index ETF, adds seven altcoins

Asset manager Hashdex has amended its S-1 regulatory filing for its cryptocurrency index exchange-traded fund (ETF) to include seven altcoins in addition to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), according to a March 14 filing. 

The revision proposes adding seven specific altcoins to the index ETF — Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), and Uniswap (UNI). As of March 17, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF holds only Bitcoin and Ether.

Previous versions of Hashdex’s S-1 suggested the possibility of adding other cryptocurrencies in the future but didn’t specify which ones.

According to the filing, the proposed altcoins additions “are decentralized peer-to-peer computer systems that rely on public key cryptography for security, and their values are primarily influenced by market supply and demand.”

The revised filing signals how ETF issuers are accelerating planned crypto product rollouts now that US President Donald Trump has instructed federal regulators to take a more lenient stance on digital asset regulation. 

As part of the transition, the ETF plans to switch its reference index from the Nasdaq Crypto US Index — which only tracks BTC and ETH — to the more comprehensive Nasdaq Crypto Index, the filing said. 

The asset manager did not specify when it plans to make the change. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must sign off on the proposed changes before they can take effect. 

Hashdex amends S-1 for crypto index ETF, adds seven altcoins

Hashdex plans to add seven altcoins to its index ETF. Source: SEC

Related: US crypto index ETFs off to slow start in first days since listing

Accelerating approvals

In December, the SEC gave the green light to both Hashdex and Franklin Templeton’s respective Bitcoin and Ether index ETFs. 

Both ETFs were listed in February, initially drawing relatively modest inflows, data shows. They are the first US ETFs aiming to offer investors a one-stop-shop diversified crypto index.

Asset manager Grayscale has also applied to convert its Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund to an ETF. Created in 2018, the fund holds a crypto index portfolio comprising BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP, among others. 

Industry analysts say crypto index ETFs are the next big focus for issuers after ETFs holding BTC and ETH listed in January and July, respectively.

“The next logical step is index ETFs because indices are efficient for investors — just like how people buy the S&P 500 in an ETF. This will be the same in crypto,” Katalin Tischhauser, head of investment research at crypto bank Sygnum, told Cointelegraph in August.

In February, the SEC acknowledged more than a dozen exchange filings related to cryptocurrency ETFs, according to records.

The filings, submitted by Cboe and other exchanges, addressed proposed rule changes concerning staking, options, in-kind redemptions and new types of altcoin funds.

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

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New BITCOIN Act would allow US reserve to exceed 1M: Law Decoded

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New BITCOIN Act would allow US reserve to exceed 1M: Law Decoded

New BITCOIN Act would allow US reserve to exceed 1M: Law Decoded

The newly reintroduced Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act of 2025 by Senator Cynthia Lummis would allow the United States to potentially hold over 1 million Bitcoin (BTC) in its crypto reserves. 

The bill directs the government to buy 200,000 BTC annually over five years, to be paid for with existing funds within the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. 

If signed into law, the act would allow the US to hold more than 1 million BTC as long as the assets are acquired through lawful means other than direct purchases, including criminal or civil forfeitures, gifts, or transfers from federal agencies. 

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Democratic lawmaker urges Treasury to cease Trump’s Bitcoin reserve plans

US Representative Gerald Connolly, a Democrat from Michigan, called on the Treasury to cease its efforts to create a crypto reserve in the United States. The lawmaker said there were conflicts of interest with US President Donald Trump and argued that the reserve would not benefit Americans.

Connolly criticized the reserve in a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing that there’s no “discernible benefit” to Americans and that the move would instead make Trump and his donors richer. 

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Argentine lawyer requests Interpol red notice for LIBRA creator: Report

Argentine lawyer Gregorio Dalbon is seeking an Interpol Red Notice for Hayden Davis, the co-creator of the LIBRA token, which caused a political scandal in Argentina. 

Dalbon submitted a request, seeking the Red Notice, to prosecutor Eduardo Taiano and judge María Servini, who are investigating the involvement of President Javier Milei in the memecoin project. 

In a filing, the lawyer said there’s a procedural risk if Davis remains free. The lawyer argued that Davis could have access to funds that might allow him to go into hiding or flee to the US. 

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America must back pro-stablecoin laws, reject CBDCs — US Rep. Emmer

In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, US Representative Tom Emmer said that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) threaten American values. The lawmaker called on Congress to pass his CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to block future administrations from launching a CBDC without congressional approval. 

Emmer said at the hearing that CBDC technology is “inherently un-American,” adding that allowing unelected bureaucrats to issue a CBDC could “upend the American way of life.”

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Texas lawmaker seeks to cap state’s proposed BTC purchases at $250 million

Ron Reynolds, a Democratic state representative in Texas, has proposed a cap for the state’s investment in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. 

The lawmaker proposed in a bill that the state’s comptroller should not be allowed to invest more than $250 million in crypto. The bill also directs Texas municipalities or counties to not invest more than $10 million in crypto. 

The proposed bill follows the Texas Senate’s approval of legislation establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the state.

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