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Some local elections may not go ahead next year under the government’s devolution plans, a minister has suggested.

Jim McMahon said local authorities could be closed or merged, meaning voting in these areas would be held off.

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Labour’s manifesto promised to “deepen” and “widen” devolution, with more areas expected to take on the mayoral combined authority (CA) model like that headed by Sadiq Khan in Greater London.

Local elections are held every year in May – but Mr McMahon told LBC some councils “essentially won’t exist” if they make a request for reorganisation under the devolution proposals.

“At the moment, the assumption is that elections are going ahead,” he said.

“However, it’s usual in a process of reorganisation that when a council makes a request for reorganisation – that if there are elections taking place to a council that essentially won’t exist within the term of those elections – then you hold off the elections and you elect to a shadow body, and the shadow body basically is a form of the new councils that will follow.”

Some local authorities have already requested reorganisation, he added, saying there will be a statutory consultation before any changes are made.

Asked if some local authorities would be closed or merged Mr McMahon said: “That’s the nature of reorganisation.”

There are 12 areas of England under the CA model, headed by regional metro mayors. These mayors, including Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, have more powers than leaders or mayors of local councils.

Mr McMahon, the minister for local government, told Sky News he wants the “whole country to realise the benefit of what that mayoral combined authority can bring”.

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Speaking later to Good Morning Britain, he said merging councils could bring £2bn in efficiency savings.

He said there are only 21 counties still with a two-tier system of local government – meaning there is a district and a county council – and lots of people “don’t know which council to go to”.

“This is about simplifying the system so that the accountability is strong, but it’s not to diminish the work that district councils and county councils have done in the past,” he said.

Mr McMahon will set out more details of the plan this afternoon in parliament.

It comes on the same day as a speech by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who will vow to push power out of Whitehall and into the hands of people with “skin in the game” across a range of policy areas including housing.

Read More:
Calls for Cornwall to get devolution deal akin to Wales

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‘House building target is achievable’

One of the central missions of the new Labour government is to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament – with local councils last week told to come up with “immediate, mandatory” housing targets as part of the plan.

Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, is expected to say that bringing together “strategic authorities” would help “to avoid duplication and give our cities and regions a bigger voice” in order to get spades in the ground.

However, the Local Government Association – the membership body for authorities in England and Wales – warned devolution was “not an end in itself” and “cannot distract from the severe funding pressures that are pushing local services to the brink”.

The government’s full devolution proposals will be set out in a White Paper, due to be published in parliament later today.

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Ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana at centre of new party row over £800k in donations

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Ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana at centre of new party row over £800k in donations

Donations being held by Zarah Sultana will be transferred over to Your Party in tranches from this week, Sky News has been told, but the party stand-off remains.

Ms Sultana has sole control of over £800,000 of Your Party donations following an internal fallout.

Her spokesperson told Sky News £600k would be transferred over in three tranches starting with £200k from Wednesday, and the rest “once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full”.

But a Your Party source told Sky News she should transfer the full £800k worth of donations now.

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It follows a major row over finances behind the scenes of the new left-wing party, which Ms Sultana co-launched with Jeremy Corbyn in July.

At the time, a company called MOU Operations was used to collect donations, with the idea this would be transferred over to Your Party once it was formally registered with the Electoral Commission.

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The registration happened on 30 September, but no transfer of funds has been made – despite Ms Sultana stepping in to take ownership of MOU last month after its previous three directors quit.

MOU is holding around £800k of donations in total, as well as around £500k in fees collected as part of Ms Sultana’s unauthorised membership launch, Sky News understands.

Ms Sultana’s spokesperson said £600k would be transferred over in three tranches, and the rest “once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full”.

The Your Party source told Sky News that Ms Sultana has been told Your Party can’t accept the money related to her membership launch due to legal risks and accused her of trying to “offload” it.

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Can Your Party get it together?

Ms Sultana agreed to take over MOU to break a standoff between Your Party and the company’s previous three directors – former Labour MP Beth Winter, former Labour mayor Jamie Driscoll and former South African politician Andrew Feinstein.

The trio set up MOU in April to assist with a new left-wing party centred around Mr Corbyn but resigned on 29 October, claiming the role of holding donations had been “thrust upon” them and raising concerns about a “lack of appropriate governance” within Your Party.

The statement said they hadn’t transferred over the funds because they were worried about legal liabilities and wanted Your Party to take over the company instead – but five of the six founding MPs refused.

Ms Sultana said her stepping in would “bring the chapter to a close” and “these resources will now be used for Your Party, as was always intended”.

However that angered some within Your Party who say this is a mess of her own making because of the membership fiasco, which is still being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

‘Low trust environment’

While Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana have since patched things up, one Your Party source described operating in a “low trust environment”.

Senior Your Party figures have accused Ms Sultana of deliberately withholding MOU’s funds for political leverage despite privately and publicly committing to the transfer. Organisers expressed frustration at operating on a “shoestring” ahead of the founding conference at the end of this month.

However, allies close to the Coventry South MP have dismissed the “hostile briefings” and insist she has been conducting “due diligence” before sending the money over.

Sky News understands Ms Sultana has been seeking Your Party’s constitution and financial scheme as registered with the Electoral Commission, to help her understand the party’s governing structures.

A source close to her claims there has been an unwillingness to share the documents from within Your Party, so she has requested them from the elections watchdog directly.

It is not clear who wrote the documents and who is controlling access to them – or why one of the party’s founders should not be able to see them.

A spokesperson for Ms Sultana said: “Zarah did not choose to become the sole director of MOU Operations Limited, but was prepared to take on this responsibility to ensure funds are transferred as quickly as possible and preparations for the founding conference can progress.

“As sole director, she is legally responsible for ensuring the company’s costs, liabilities and expenses are settled, and this process may take some time. To ensure funds are available for the founding conference, she will transfer £600k in tranches over the next couple of weeks. The first £200k is scheduled to be sent 12 November.

“All remaining funds will be transferred once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full.”

A Your Party spokesperson said: “We are completely focused on putting together a successful founding conference for our members, so they can democratically decide Your Party’s structures and programme, and Britain can get the socialist alternative it so badly needs. Hundreds of volunteers are working tirelessly on a shoestring budget to make this a reality, a testament to the grassroots power of our mass movement.”

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XRP rallies on US shutdown nearing end, ETF tickers landing on DTCC

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XRP rallies on US shutdown nearing end, ETF tickers landing on DTCC

Excitement in the crypto community is growing over the potential launch of XRP funds, as the US Senate advances a deal aimed at ending the longest-ever government shutdown.

The Senate reportedly reached a deal on a budget bill to end the government shutdown on Sunday, sending a bullish signal to numerous markets, including crypto.

The XRP (XRP) community is anticipating multiple XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to launch shortly, with several already appearing on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website ahead of a possible launch this month.

The price of XRP has rallied more than 12% on the bullish news over the past 24 hours, with the token trading at $2.56 at the time of publication, according to CoinGecko.

11 XRP products listed on DTCC

As of Monday, the DTCC website featured 11 XRP ETF products on its “active and pre-launch” listing, including those by 21Shares, ProShares, Bitwise, Canary Capital, Volatility Shares, REX-Osprey, CoinShares, Amplify and Franklin Templeton.

Although a DTCC listing does not equal actual launch and does not guarantee regulatory approval, it signals that the ETF infrastructure is ready to be traded on US markets.

The list of XRP products listed on the DTCC as of Monday. Source: DTCC

It’s worth noting that Grayscale’s XRP Trust (GXRP) has not yet appeared on the DTCC website, and the list also does not currently include an XRP fund from WisdomTree.

“Government shutdown ending = spot crypto ETF floodgates opening,” ETF expert Nate Geraci wrote in an X post on Sunday, adding: “In the meantime, could see first ‘33 Act spot xrp ETF launch this week.”

Related: End to US gov’t shutdown sparks institutional buying, ETF ‘floodgate’ hopes

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas also posted on X on Sunday, noting that the “shutdown is over” and highlighting a subsequent uptick in US equity futures.

“The SEC had open litigation against Ripple for the past five years, up until three months ago. IMO, the launch of spot XRP ETFs represents the final nail in the coffin for the previous wave of anti-crypto regulators,” he wrote in an X post on Nov. 2.

Ripple, SEC, XRP, ETF, Policy
Source: Nate Geraci

He also highlighted a post from Canary Capital, which claimed last Friday that its XRP ETF is “coming soon,” speculating that the product could go live by the end of this week.