Connect with us

Published

on

People who believe the things posted in a controversial Labour WhatsApp group shouldn’t have been MPs in the first place, according to Harriet Harman.

Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the veteran Labour parliamentarian said the scandal was “very serious” as the public already thinks MPs are “contemptuous of their voters”.

Politics live: Follow the latest updates
Electoral Dysfunction: Listen where you get your podcasts

Ms Harman was a Labour MP for 42 years and now sits in the House of Lords.

The scandal over the “Trigger Me Timbers” WhatsApp group has seen former health minister Andrew Gwynne sacked from the government and suspended from the Labour Party.

Fellow MP Oliver Ryan has also been suspended from the party.

Both men are still MPs.

And 11 councillors in Manchester have also been suspended, including Mr Gwynne’s wife.

Andrew Gwynne, pictured in 2022. Pic: PA
Image:
Andrew Gwynne, pictured in 2022. Pic: PA

Oliver Ryan MP
Pic House of Commons
Image:
Oliver Ryan MP. Pic: House of Commons

Speaking on the podcast, Ms Harman said: “I think it’s very serious. One of the things that people think about MPs is that they talk nicely in public, but actually they’re contemptuous of their voters in private.

“And they say one thing publicly, but they believe something completely different.

“And what this WhatsApp group has shown is exactly that.

“A lot of people have said, ‘oh, how stupid they were to write this down’, but I think it’s much more profound than that.

“I think if you have got racist thoughts, and you have got antisemitic beliefs, and if you’ve got contempt for the people you’re supposed to be representing, you shouldn’t be an MP.

“It’s not that you shouldn’t write it down in a WhatsApp group.

“You shouldn’t be an MP in the first place.”

Read more:
The alleged messages and who sent them
11 councillors suspended over scandal
MP ‘deeply regrets’ comments he made

Andrew Gwynne thumbnail for Electoral Dysfunction
Image:
Health minister Andrew Gwynne was sacked over the ‘Trigger Me Timbers’ WhatsApp group scandal

Ms Harman said that Mr Ryan and Mr Gwynne would not have been selected by their local Labour branch to run as MPs if the contents of the WhatsApp group were known.

She added: “Keir Starmer was absolutely right to not miss a beat, but to say all of these people – they shouldn’t be in the Labour Party.

“And that comes with political risks, because if there are by-elections, those will be very difficult by-elections.”

Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson reckons that the likelihood of voluntary by-elections was unlikely.

She told the podcast: “We’re about six months into a parliament.

“There’s four and a half years of collecting a £90,000 plus salary that they can both have, whether they’ve got the Labour whip or not.

“I don’t think they’re going to voluntarily resign and refight their seat.”

She also pointed out that, as both men represent seats in and around Greater Manchester, Sir Keir Starmer and Labour would be competing against Reform more than the Conservative Party, which he will want to avoid as it could give Nigel Farage’s party momentum.

Continue Reading

Politics

US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

Published

on

By

US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

Update (April 3, 5:43 am UTC): This article has been updated to add information on the STABLE Act and GENIUS Act.

The US House Financial Services Committee has passed a Republican-backed stablecoin framework bill, which will now head to the House floor for a full vote.

The Committee passed the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy, or STABLE Act, with a 32-17 vote on April 2, with six Democrats voting in favor.

The bill was introduced on Feb. 6 by committee Chair French Hill and the chair of its Digital Assets Subcommittee, Bryan Steil — reportedly drafted with the help of the world’s largest stablecoin issue, Tether.

US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

Source: Financial Services GOP

The bill would provide rules around payment stablecoins, a crypto token tied to a currency such as the US dollar, and aims to ensure issuers give information about their business and how they back their tokens.

During an earlier markup session, the committee’s leading Democrat, Maxine Waters, who later voted against the bill, criticized her Republican peers for “setting an unacceptable and dangerous precedent” with the STABLE Act.

She said President Donald Trump could use the bill to allow his family’s stablecoin to be used in government payments, and argued the bill validates Trump “and his insiders’ efforts to write rules of the road that will enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.”

In late March, the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture launched a stablecoin, World Liberty Financial USD (USD1). Meanwhile, the US Housing Department, which oversees social housing, was reportedly looking to experiment with using stablecoins for some of its functions.

Stablecoin GENIUS Act also weaves through Congress 

Other stablecoin-related bills are also working their way through Congress, including the Republican-led Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, which lays out oversight and reserve rules for issuers.

Related: Crypto has a regulatory capture problem in Washington — or does it?

The US Senate Banking Committee voted through the GENIUS Act in an 18-6 vote on March 13, after Senator Bill Hagerty, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, updated it following consultation with the Committee’s Democrats.

Before the vote, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the updated GENIUS Act made “significant improvements to a number of important provisions” in areas such as consumer protections and authorized stablecoin issuers.

Both the STABLE Act and GENIUS Act will now wait until debate time on the floor of the House and Senate, respectively, before they head for a floor vote.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on X that two unnamed crypto lobbyists said there is likely to be “a coordinated push behind the scenes over the next few weeks to get the two bills to mirror each other, as there are still some differences between them.”

Doing so would “avoid having to set up a so-called conference committee which is formed so members from both chambers can negotiate to create a final version of the bill everyone agrees on,” she added.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025

Continue Reading

Politics

‘My lawyers are ready’ for questions about corruption claims, ex-minister tells Sky News

Published

on

By

'My lawyers are ready' for questions about corruption claims, ex-minister tells Sky News

Tulip Siddiq has told Sky News her “lawyers are ready” to handle any formal questions about allegations she is involved in corruption in Bangladesh.

Asked whether she regrets apparent links with the Bangladeshi Awami League political party, Ms Siddiq said “why don’t you look at my legal letter and see if I have any questions to answer… [the Bangladeshi authorities] have not once contacted me and I’m waiting to hear from them”.

The London MP resigned as a Treasury minister in January after being named in several corruption inquiries in Bangladesh.

In her first public comments since leaving government, Ms Siddiq said “there’s been allegations for months on end and no one has contacted me”.

Last month, the interim leader of Bangladesh told Sky News the MP had “wealth left behind” in the country “and should be made responsible”.

Lawyers acting for Ms Siddiq wrote to the Bangladeshi Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) several weeks ago saying the allegations were “false and vexatious”.

The letter said the ACC must put questions to Ms Siddiq “by no later than 25 March 2025” or “we shall presume that there are no legitimate questions to answer”.

More on Bangladesh

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Staff from the NCA visited Bangladesh as part of initial work to support the interim government in the country.

In a post online today, the former minister said the deadline had expired and the authorities had not replied.

Sky News has approached the Bangladeshi government for comment.

The allegations against Ms Siddiq are focused on links to her aunt Sheikh Hasina – who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh for 20 years.

Ms Hasina was forced to flee the country in August following weeks of deadly protests.

She is accused of becoming an autocrat, with politically-motivated arrests, extra-judicial killings and other abuses allegedly happening on her watch. Hasina claims it’s all a political witch hunt.

Electrocuted on their genitals and mouths sewn up: Inside Bangladesh’s ‘death squad’ jails

Ms Siddiq was found to have lived in several London properties that had links back to the Awami League political party that her aunt still leads.

She referred herself to the prime minister’s standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus who said he had “not identified evidence of improprieties” but added it was “regrettable” Ms Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of the ties to her aunt.

Ms Siddiq said continuing in her role would be “a distraction” for the government but insisted she had done nothing wrong.

Continue Reading

Politics

Former New York governor advised OKX over $505M federal probe: Report

Published

on

By

Former New York governor advised OKX over 5M federal probe: Report

Former New York governor advised OKX over 5M federal probe: Report

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX reportedly hired former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to advise it over the federal probe that resulted in the firm pleading guilty to several violations and agreeing to pay $505 million in fines and penalties.

Cuomo, a New York-registered attorney, advised OKX on legal issues stemming from the probe sometime after August 2021 when he resigned as New York overnor, Bloomberg reported on April 2, citing people familiar with the matter.

“He spoke with company executives regularly and counseled them on how to respond to the criminal investigation,” Bloomberg said.

The Seychelles-based firm pled guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in violation of US Anti-Money Laundering laws on Feb. 24 and agreed to pay $84 million worth of penalties while forfeiting $421 million worth of fees earned from mostly institutional clients.

The breaches occurred from 2018 to 2024 despite OKX having an official policy preventing US persons from transacting on its crypto exchange since 2017, the Department of Justice noted at the time.

A spokesperson for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, told Bloomberg that Cuomo has been providing private legal services representing individuals and corporations on a variety of matters since resigning as New York governor.

“He has not represented clients before a New York city or state agency and routinely recommends former colleagues for positions,”  Azzopardi added.

OKX reportedly wasn’t willing to comment on its relationships with outside firms.

Cuomo also influenced OKX to make executive appointments: Bloomberg

Cuomo, who is now running for mayor of New York City, also advised OKX to appoint his friend US Attorney Linda Lacewell to OKX’s board of directors, Bloomberg said.

Lacewell, a former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, was added to the board in 2024 and was named OKX’s new chief legal officer on April 1, according to a recent company statement.

Former New York governor advised OKX over $505M federal probe: Report

Source: Linda Lacewell

Related: New York bill aims to protect crypto investors from memecoin rug pulls

After the investigation concluded, OKX said it would seek out a compliance consultant to remedy the issues stemming from the federal probe and bolster its regulatory compliance program.

“Our vision is to make OKX the gold standard of global compliance at scale across different markets and their respective regulatory bodies,” OKX CEO Star Xu said in a Feb. 24 X post.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Continue Reading

Trending