A veteran Labour MP and the long-standing mayor of London are among a handful of politicians named in the King’s New Year Honours list.
Former shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry, who has been made a dame, appears on the list alongside Sadiq Khan, who has been made a knight after securing a record third term as mayor of London.
Former Conservative MP Ranil Jayawardena – who was environment secretary for a matter of days under Liz Truss – was also handed a knighthood, as was former schools’ minister Nick Gibb.
Mr Gibb served at the Department for Education under four Conservative prime ministers – Lord Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the opening of the £200m Siemens’ Rail Village in Goole. Pic:PA
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Dame Emily, who now chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told Sky News she was “surprised but delighted” by her appointment as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
She said: “I do think about my grandmothers, my English grandmother and my Irish grandmother, neither of whom were really even allowed to work once they got married. What they would make of this, I really don’t know.”
She added: “My husband was knighted a few years ago and I’ve never been comfortable calling myself lady Nugee, you know, using his title. So I’m pretty pleased to have my own title that I can use. I think Dame Emily’s alright.”
She also recounted telling drag queen Ella Vaday that she was “going to be a dame too”, to which her friend, who was appearing in a pantomime at the time, asked where on.
“Everywhere darling, everywhere!”, Dame Emily replied.
Andy Street, the former West Midlands mayor, was also made a knight after being defeated in his mayoral race in May.
Sir Andy, who was elected as the region’s first mayor in 2017, said he had only been “the front man” and the honour was “an accolade for the people in the West Midlands who made a success of the combined authority and the mayoralty”.
He said: “Behind it lies a huge endeavour to set this up from scratch and make it the success that it is.
“It was a huge honour to be able to do that on behalf of citizens across the West Midlands.”
The newly knighted Sir Sadiq said he was “truly humbled” by the honour.
He added: “I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London.”
A Change.org petition to “stop” his knighthood, kicked off by Conservative London councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman, surpassed 200,000 signatures earlier this month.
Several former MPs also received honours in the list.
Former Labour MP Kate Hollern, who lost her Blackburn seat to independent candidate Adnan Hussain in July, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Lord Mike Katz, the national chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement who was recently ennobled by Sir Keir Starmer, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
There were also gongs for Tamara Finkelstein, the permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and former leader of Welsh Labour and South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael.
Mr Michael was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), while Ms Finkelstein became a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath.
Despite the ongoing market meltdown on US trade tariffs, executives at major cryptocurrency firms Messari and Sygnum are bullish on institutional Bitcoin adoption later in 2025.
Speaking on a panel at Paris Blockchain Week on April 8, Messari CEO Eric Turner and Sygnum Bank co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said they expect a significant shift in the banking sector’s involvement with crypto in the second half of the year.
According to the executives, the global banking push into Bitcoin (BTC) services has great potential to happen in the second half of 2025 as regulators embrace crypto, including stablecoins and crypto services by banks.
“I think we’re probably looking at a muted Q2, but I’m really excited for Q3 and Q4,” Messari’s Turner said during the panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, forecasting “really interesting” things coming to the crypto market in 2025.
Crypto adoption is not just about Trump
While some investors focus on the pro-crypto stance of US President Donald Trump, Turner emphasized that broader regulatory momentum is what matters most.
“When you look at the potential of having market structure regulation in the US, stablecoin regulation, and just the fact that across the board, not just President Trump himself, but the SEC and all these regulatory industries are really embracing crypto,” Turner said.
Paris Blockchain Week’s panel with Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, Bancor co-founder Eyal Hertzog, Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger, Messari CEO Eric Turner, AWS fintech leader Alex Matsuo and Near chief operating officer Chris Donovan. Source: Cointelegraph
Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said international banks with US branches are also poised to enter the market once the legal landscape becomes clearer:
“I think it’s a matter of fact that US banks are preparing to be able to offer crypto custody and at least crypto spot trading services anytime soon.”
“I think by then I would agree with you, Eric,” he continued, projecting a continued phase of market uncertainty until the US establishes a clear regulatory framework.
Related: Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B
Banks are no longer afraid of Bitcoin regulators
With the establishment of clear crypto rules for banks in the US, there will be a rush for crypto services by large international banks that are incorporated outside of the US but have a US-based presence, Eichenberger said.
“Some of them may have had their strategic plans in their cupboard to offer crypto-related services, but have been afraid that at some point they will be gone after by any of the US regulatory authorities,” he said, adding:
“Now I think there’s no one to be afraid of anymore in terms of regulatory authorities worldwide. So I think many of the large international banks will launch this year.”
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Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.
Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.
However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:
“That is the big prize and both China and the US understand it and need it. Everything else is negotiation posturing. China needs a weaker $ and the US needs tariffs.”
Source: Raoul Pal
“Also, the US is trying to shut down China tariff arbitrage using other channels such as Mexico or Vietnam,” Pal said.
Related: Bitcoin price can hit $250K in 2025 if Fed shifts to QE: Arthur Hayes
China retaliates with new tariffs
Considering China’s latest retaliatory measures, a resolution remains unlikely in the short term.
In response to US tariffs, China imposed a 34% tariff on all US imports effective April 10, media outlet Xinhua News reported on April 4. China’s foreign ministry also vowed to “fight till the end” against Trump’s tariffs, which it called “bullying” by the world’s largest economy.
China overtakes the US in global trade. Source: Econovis
China overtook the US in 2012 to become the world’s largest trading nation by the total value of exports and imports, surpassing $4 trillion in goods trade that year, according to The Guardian.
Crypto markets watch trade outcome closely
As the trade dispute continues to evolve, analysts say a potential agreement between the two global superpowers could serve as a key catalyst for recovery in digital asset markets.
Crypto markets have a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.
Related: Crypto market bottom likely by June despite tariff fears: Finance Redefined
Investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin will depend on the global tariff responses from other countries, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.
“We have reached somewhat of a local bottom in regard to tariffs and the impact on prices,” the analyst said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:
“Trump came out guns blazing, and we’ve mostly seen the worst from the US side, so we’ll see if other countries are willing to drop some of the tariffs because it’s very likely the US will do the same.”
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