Politics

Is Starmer’s voice coach his Carole Caplin?

Published

3 months ago

February 5, 2025

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Is history repeating itself in the row over Sir Keir Starmer’s voice coach Leonie Mellinger?

After all, she is not the first person who has coached a prime minister to be caught in political controversy.

After the Tories demanded a police probe, are there echoes of the row over Tony and Cherie Blair’s “lifestyle coach” Carole Caplin?

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir defended meeting Ms Mellinger during lockdown in 2020, claiming “I was working” while the Tories were “partying”.

The Conservatives then stepped up their attacks, announcing that leader Kemi Badenoch wants a police investigation into whether laws were broken.

That is not going to happen, however. The Metropolitan Police said that because the alleged offence was more than three years ago, no action will be taken.

But have we been here before with a political row about a Labour prime minister receiving specialist coaching?

In the 1990s, before and after he became PM, Ms Caplin coached Sir Tony and wife Cherie, advising him on fitness and his wife on style.

And so, as the Tories continue attempting to embarrass Sir Keir over “Voice Coach Gate”, are there similarities between his voice coach and Ms Caplin?

It has been suggested, for instance, that both have a racy past. Now 65, Ms Mellinger, an actress, was once married to the star of the “Confessions…” movies, Robin Asquith.

In her acting career, she appeared in Channel 4’s political comedy The New Statesman as the leather-clad wife of a Conservative MP.

She also appeared in the 1981 film of the bleak Doris Lessing novel Memoirs Of A Survivor, which also starred Nigel Hawthorne, later star of TV’s Yes Minister.

Carole Caplin, a former dancer who once dated Gary Numan and Adam Ant, hit the headlines in 1994 when The Sun published topless photos of her under the headline “Secrets of Blairs’ Girl Friday”.

To make matters worse, it happened at the very moment the then Labour leader, elected earlier in 1994, was celebrating a successful party conference speech.

But much worse was to follow. In 2002 it emerged that Ms Caplin’s boyfriend, Australian Peter Foster, was a conman with a conviction for conspiring to supply a weight-loss drink that turned out to be tea.

The problem was that Foster had helped Cherie Blair buy two flats in Bristol when their eldest son Euan was at university there. The result was one of the biggest controversies of Sir Tony’s premiership.

More than 20 years later, it is now Sir Keir’s turn to face questions about his own coaching.

In the Commons, Tory MP Gagan Mohindra challenged the PM: “Can he repeat his assurances that all rules were followed while the country was in tier 4 lockdown in December 2020, not just by him but his team as well, but also his voice coach Leonie Mellinger?”

Though he did not repeat the claim he made in Brussels on Monday that no rules were broken, a furious Sir Keir hit back: “In December 2020, I was in my office working on the expected Brexit deal.

“With my team we had to analyse the deal as it came in at speed, prepare and deliver a live statement at speed on one of the most important issues for our country in recent years. That’s what I was doing.

“What were they doing? Suitcases of food into Downing Street, partying and fighting, vomiting up the walls, leaving the cleaner to remove red wine stains. That’s the difference: I was working, they were partying.”

But a spokesman for the Tory leader responded: “The key question here is: is a voice coach a key worker who can travel from Tier 4 to Tier 3 during lockdown?

“It doesn’t matter if you’re part of a core team, that is the question. Now, Keir Starmer said that lawmakers can’t be lawbreakers. It is almost unimaginable to disagree that that was a clear breach of the COVID rules.”

And asked if Mrs Badenoch thought police should investigate, he said: “Yes, she does.”

Some years after the Carole Caplin controversy, Sir Tony wrote in his memoirs that she was “a good friend and reliable confidant” for his wife, but he should have acknowledged at the beginning that she was working for them.

And as for Sir Keir, the threat of a police investigation into allegations of breaking lockdown rules did not last long.

“We can confirm we have received a report,” said a Met Police spokesperson. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with offences during COVID has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings.

“As this alleged incident falls outside of this timeframe, no action will be taken.”

Politics

Australian court ruling could lead to $640M in Bitcoin tax refunds

Published

38 mins ago

May 19, 2025

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Australian court ruling could lead to 0M in Bitcoin tax refunds

A court decision in Australia could open the door to as much as $640 million in capital gains tax (CGT) refunds on Bitcoin transactions after a judge ruled that crypto should be treated as money rather than a taxable asset.

On May 19, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that the decision arose within a criminal case involving federal police officer William Wheatley, who allegedly stole 81.6 Bitcoin (BTC) in 2019. At the time, the assets were worth roughly $492,000. At current market prices, the tokens are valued at more than $13 million.

In the case, Judge Michael O’Connell of Victoria ruled that Bitcoin qualifies as a form of money rather than property, likening the digital asset to Australian dollars rather than to shares, gold or foreign currency.

The interpretation could set a legal precedent, potentially placing Bitcoin transactions outside the scope of Australia’s current CGT regime.

New court ruling challenges Australian crypto tax laws

In an AFR interview, tax lawyer Adrian Cartland said the verdict “totally upends” the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) current position.

Since 2014, the ATO has classified crypto assets as CGT assets. This means that users must pay tax when selling or trading them. Under the ATO’s guidance, any disposal of Bitcoin, including selling it for fiat, exchanging it for another crypto or using it to purchase goods or services, constitutes a CGT event.

This framework has been the basis for taxing cryptocurrency transactions in Australia for over a decade. However, the recent ruling challenges the approach by suggesting that Bitcoin functions more like money than property. This potentially exempts it from CGT.

Tax refunds could reach $640 million

Cartland said it was held that Bitcoin is Australian money. “That is, it is not a CGT asset. Therefore, acquisitions and disposals of Bitcoin have no tax consequences,” the tax lawyer added.

If the ruling is upheld on the appeal, Cartland estimates that there could be potential tax refunds totalling 1 billion Australian dollars ($640 million).

However, while Cartland thinks there could be up to a billion in refunds, the ATO said there were no official figures that confirm the amount to be potentially refunded if the case changes how Bitcoin is taxed in Australia.

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Politics

Revolut eyes French license and $1.1B expansion amid EU growth

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

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Revolut eyes French license and .1B expansion amid EU growth

Revolut, a European neobank with crypto support, plans to invest more than 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) in France and apply for a local banking license.

According to a May 19 Fortune report, Revolut representatives announced the initiative during the Choose France business summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The London-based neobank also plans to set up its new European Union-serving headquarters in Paris, promising to invest 1 billion euro and hire at least 200 people within three years.

Revolut spokespeople also said that the firm is in the process of submitting an application to the French banking regulator Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority. According to an anonymous source cited by Fortune, the regulator has been pushing the neobank to get a license to improve supervision due to its popularity in France.

Revolut currently employs about 300 people and serves five million customers in France. This makes the nation the neobank’s top European Union market.

Aiming for the stars

Revolut hopes to onboard 10 million users by the end of next year and then double that number by 2030. The firm already offers loans, trading and cryptocurrency support in its mobile-first banking platform.

The neobank has seen rapid growth ever since its founding in 2015. The company recently received a $45 billion valuation and reportedly served over 55 million customers as of late May.

Revolut’s 2024 annual report release shows that the firm’s 2024 revenue was 3.1 billion British pounds ($4 billion). A recent Financial News article also puts the company’s headcount at 10,133 employees as of Dec. 31, 2024.

An increasingly regulated institution

Revolut obtained its UK banking license in late July 2024, where 11 million of its customers are located. Now, the neobank is aggressively looking to obtain similar permits across other jurisdictions, with 10 applications underway.

Revolut received the Prepaid Payment Instruments license from India’s central bank earlier this month. This license allows the bank to offer multi-currency forex cards and cross-border remittance services in India.

EU-based Revolut customers now leverage its Lithuania operations. The firm received a banking license in Lithuania at the end of 2018, enabling it to serve customers across the European Economic Area better.

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Politics

Dubai regulator sets compliance deadline for updated crypto rules

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

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Dubai regulator sets compliance deadline for updated crypto rules

Dubai’s crypto regulator has given licensed digital asset companies until June 19 to comply with its updated activity-based Rulebooks to enhance market integrity and risk oversight.

On May 19, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) announced that it had released Version 2.0 of the Rulebooks.

The regulator said it had strengthened controls around margin trading and token distribution services, harmonised compliance requirements across all licensed activities and given clearer definitions for collateral wallet arrangements.

VARA’s team will engage with licensed entities and expects the companies to comply with the updated rules after a 30-day transition period.

“In line with global regulatory best practices, a 30-day transition period has been granted to all impacted virtual asset service providers [VASPs], with full compliance required by 19 June 2025,” VARA wrote.

VARA enhances supervisory mechanisms

VARA highlighted that it had enhanced supervisory mechanisms across several regulated activities. This includes advisory, broker-dealer, custody, exchange, lending and borrowing, virtual asset (VA) management and investment, and VA transfer and settlement services.

A VARA spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the updates will bring consistency across all activity-based rules defining core operational terms. The spokesperson gave examples of terms like “client assets,” “qualified custodians,” and “collateral requirements” as some of the terms more consistently defined in the update.

The update also aligned risk management and disclosure obligations, where activities overlap, in areas like brokerage, custody and exchange.

“The aim was to reduce ambiguity and help VASPs navigate cross-functional compliance more easily,” VARA told Cointelegraph.

Dubai regulator tightens leverage thresholds for margin trading

As for margin trading, the VARA spokesperson said they tightened leverage thresholds, mandated clearer collateralisation standards, and enhanced the monitoring obligations for VASPs offering this feature.

Margin trading allows traders to control large positions with smaller amounts of capital. It amplifies both gains and losses. Tightening the leverage traders use helps limit the risks of widespread liquidations in a market downturn.

The crypto regulator introduced a new section on token distribution that sets out licensing prerequisites, investor protections and marketing restrictions. The spokesperson emphasized the marketing restrictions, especially for “retail-facing offers.”

“It’s about aligning with global conduct expectations and closing observed regulatory gaps,” the VARA spokesperson said.