Keir Starmer blames Tories for UK’s ‘open borders’ as stats show record high

Published

5 months ago

November 28, 2024

admin

Sir Keir Starmer has accused the Tories of using Brexit to deliberately run an “open borders experiment” in the UK.

The prime minister said the British people are “owed an explanation” after revised figures showed net migration reached a record high of almost one million under the previous government’s watch.

Follow live: Spending on asylum jumps to record high

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows net migration for the year to June 2023 reached 906,000 – a big jump on what was previously thought and four times higher than pre-Brexit figures in 2019.

In a speech from Downing Street, Sir Keir said: “Failure on this scale isn’t just bad luck. It isn’t a global trend or taking your eye off the ball.

“No, this is a different order of failure. This happened by design, not accident.

“Policies were formed deliberately to liberalise immigration. Brexit was used for that purpose – to turn Britain into a one nation experiment in open borders.”

The ONS’s previous estimate for the year to 2023 was 740,000, which at the time was still a record amount.

The stats show net migration – the difference between people coming to live in and leaving the UK – is down 20% this year from the revised high of 2023, standing at an estimated 728,000.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch yesterday admitted her party, which made repeated pledges to cut net migration by tens of thousands during their 14 years in office, had got immigration “wrong”.

But Sir Keir said their failures were “unforgivable” and can’t be separated from the Conservative Party’s “refusal to do the hard yards on skills, on welfare reform, on giving our young people opportunities”.

“Clearly the vast majority of people who entered this country did so to plug gaps in our workforce,” he added.

In his press conference, Sir Keir said Labour would reform the points-based immigration system to require companies that are heavily reliant on foreign workers to also train British people.

This will go alongside a crackdown on abuse of the visa system, including banning employers who flout the rules from hiring overseas staff for two years.

‘Landmark’ deal struck with Iraq

Sir Keir’s speech came as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a “landmark” deal with Iraq, intended to crack down on the people smuggling fuelling illegal immigration.

Iraq is one of the top 10 countries people travelling in small boats come from (3,002 in the year to June). Around £300k of UK government money will be given to the country to help it with border security and law enforcement.

Home Office data released on Thursday also showed the cost of the UK’s asylum system has risen to £5bn, the highest level of spending on record, and up by more than a third in a year.

On Wednesday, Tory leader Ms Badenoch said there had been a “collective failure of political leaders from all parties over decades” to grasp migration, adding: “On behalf of the Conservative Party, it is right that I as the new leader accept responsibility and say truthfully, we got this wrong.”

Other Conservatives, including former home secretary Suella Braverman, sought to take credit for the numbers coming down in the year to July 2024, which the ONS said was driven mainly by a fall in the number of dependants arriving in the UK on study visas from outside the EU.

Politics

US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

Published

6 hours ago

April 17, 2025

admin

US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

A US federal judge has agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.

Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.

He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.

Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.

The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.”

The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.

“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated.

DeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker rule

Meanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16.

“The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing.

The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.

On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.

It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

Politics

Panama’s capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees

Published

13 hours ago

April 16, 2025

admin

<div>Panama's capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees</div>

Panama’s capital city will accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, including bus tickets and permits, Panama City mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on April 15, joining a growing list of jurisdictions globally that have voted to accept such payments.

Panama City will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Circle’s USDC (USDC), and Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin for payment once the crypto-to-fiat payment rails are established, Mizrachi posted on the X platform.

Mizrachi said previous administrations attempted to push through similar legislation but failed to overcome stipulations requiring the local government to accept funds denominated in US dollars.

In a translated statement, the Panama City mayor said that the local government partnered with a bank that will immediately convert any digital assets received into US dollars, allowing the municipality to accept crypto without introducing new legislation.

Panama City joins a growing list of global jurisdictions on the municipal and state level accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes, exploring Bitcoin strategic reserves to protect public treasuries from inflation and passing pro-crypto policies to attract investment.

Taxes, Panama, Bitcoin Adoption — *Source:* *Mayer Mizrachi*

Municipalities and states embrace digital assets

Several municipalities and territories around the globe already accept crypto for tax payments or are exploring various implementations of blockchain technology for government spending.

The US state of Colorado started accepting crypto payments for taxes in September 2022. Much like Panama City said it will do, Colorado immediately converts the crypto to fiat.

In December 2023, the city of Lugano, Switzerland, announced taxes and city fees could be paid in Bitcoin, which was one of the developments that earned it the reputation of being a globally recognized Bitcoin city.

The city council of Vancouver, Canada, passed a motion to become “Bitcoin-friendly city” in December 2024. As part of that motion, the Vancouver local government will explore integrating BTC into the financial system, including tax payments.

North Carolina lawmaker Neal Jackson introduced legislation titled “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act” on April 10. If passed, the bill will recognize cryptocurrencies as an official form of payment that can be used to pay taxes.

Magazine: Crypto City: The ultimate guide to Miami

Politics

Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Published

16 hours ago

April 16, 2025

admin

<div>Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation</div>

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal” following a difficult “wave of failures and frauds,” he said.

Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Powell delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago. Source: Bloomberg Television

During crypto’s difficult years, which culminated in 2022 and 2023 with several high-profile business failures, the Fed “worked with Congress to try to get a […] legal framework for stablecoins, which would have been a nice place to start,” said Powell. “We were not successful.”

“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into more mainstreaming of that whole sector, so Congress is again looking […] at a legal framework for stablecoins,” he said.

“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” said Powell.

This isn’t the first time Powell acknowledged the need for stablecoin legislation. In June 2023, the Fed boss told the House Financial Services Committee that stablecoins were “a form of money” that requires “robust” federal oversight.

Support for stablecoin legislation is growing

The election of US President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of pro-crypto appointments and policy shifts that could make America a digital asset superpower.

Washington’s formal embrace of cryptocurrency began earlier this year when Trump established the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, with Bo Hines as the executive director.

Hines told a digital asset summit in New York last month that a comprehensive stablecoin bill was a top priority for the current administration. After the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act, a final stablecoin bill could arrive at the president’s desk “in the next two months,” said Hines.

Bo Hines (right) speaks of “imminent” stablecoin legislation at the Digital Asset Summit on March 18. Source: Cointelegraph

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are by far the most popular tokens used for remittances and cryptocurrency trading.

The combined value of all stablecoins is currently $227 billion, according to RWA.xyz. The dollar-pegged USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) account for more than 88% of the total market.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom