Nigel Farage would turn UK into a ‘Trump tribute act’, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says

Published

6 days ago

March 23, 2025

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Sir Ed Davey has launched a furious attack on “unpatriotic” Nigel Farage for once saying he “admires” Vladimir Putin, claiming the Reform leader would “turn our great country into little more than a Donald Trump tribute act”.

In a speech at his party’s spring conference, the Liberal Democrat leader accused Donald Trump of “betraying Ukraine” and “selling out… the security of Europe and the security of our United Kingdom”.

He framed his party as the only one “speaking up in defiance” of the US president, and called on the government not to “appease” him.

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The Lib Dem leader was speaking just weeks before the local elections on 1 May, when he is hoping to make further gains from the Conservative Party and stop Reform UK from making up any ground.

‘Unforgivable’ of Trump to ‘betray Ukraine’

In his lengthy speech to the party faithful, Sir Ed said this is “a time of great peril for our continent, and for our country”.

“Because Donald Trump is not only betraying Ukraine,” he said. “It’s not only their sovereignty he’s selling out. It’s our security. The security of Europe and the security of our United Kingdom. And that is unforgivable.”

He said Putin has “fooled Donald Trump into thinking that his ambitions do not extend beyond parts of Ukraine”, and pointed to Russia’s activities in countries such as Georgia, Moldova and Romania, accusing Russia of “undermining their democracies and seeking to extend his grip further into Europe”.

He expressed pride in the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion, and said he was “proud that the prime minister brought Europe and Canada together here in Britain to chart a way forward, the day after those appalling scenes of Trump and Vance ambushing President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office”.

Farage ‘out of touch with British values’

Sir Ed said one has to “stand up” to people like Mr Trump and Mr Putin, who are “offend[ing] fundamental British values of decency, fair play, respect for national sovereignty and the rule of law”.

But he said there is “one lone holdout” who “simply doesn’t seem to get it” – and that is Nigel Farage, who “thinks Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are great” in a “celebrity crush kind of way”.

Referencing Mr Farage’s comments from over a decade ago that Putin is the leader he most admires, Sir Ed said: “How despicable. How completely out-of-touch with British values. With human values. How unpatriotic. How deeply un-British.

“And this from a man who thinks he can be our prime minister. Not on our watch.”

He went on to say that the Reform UK leader has “nothing to say” about the challenges facing the health service, noting that he has “never uttered the word ‘care’ once in parliament”.

He accused the insurgent right-wing party of peddling “superficial, simplistic, snake-oil solutions”, and choosing to “exploit” the “struggles and anxieties” of the British people “for their own selfish ends”.

Badenoch has a ‘sneering attitude’

Sir Ed also hit out at the Conservative Party for “chasing Reform’s tail”.

He pointed to Kemi Badenoch recently saying that a “typical Liberal Democrat will be somebody who is good at fixing their church roof and people in the community like them”.

“I think she meant it as an insult. But I’ll happily wear it as a badge of honour,” he said. “Because she’s right. Liberal Democrats fix things.”

He went on to say that she has “good reason” not to like his party, noting that they took 60 seats off the Tories at the general election.

“But what I’m talking about is the sneering attitude of the leader of the Conservatives, the sneering attitude that says fixing church roofs is somehow beneath her. Even beneath politics altogether.

“That what happens in our communities is trivial and insignificant compared to debating the true meaning of conservatism on Twitter.”

Sir Ed added that the Tories have “abandoned our communities” and public services, which is “why so many lifelong Conservative voters have turned to the Liberal Democrats”.

‘Impose tariffs on Musk’s Tesla cars’

The Lib Dem leader also had a few notes for the Labour government, calling on ministers to impose import tariffs on Tesla cars in retaliation for any tariffs imposed on the UK by the Trump administration, in which Tesla boss Elon Musk is a key player.

Sir Ed criticised the government for not ruling out changing or scrapping the tax on tech giants’ UK profits in order to avoid tariffs, saying: “Appeasement never works with bullies, and it doesn’t work with Trump – as his tariffs on British steel already show.”

He also called on the government to go further in its efforts to support Ukraine, arguing that frozen Russian assets should be given in funding, and saying he wants to join a new European Rearmament Bank.

On economic growth, Sir Ed called for “a new deal with the EU, with a Customs Union at its heart – putting us on a path back to the single market”.

‘This is a battle for the future’

In closing, Sir Ed said his party’s “liberal belief in internationalism […] offers the solution” to the problems facing the UK, “with Trump in the White House and Farage leading a Trump tribute act”.

“Our trademark community politics is the only way to defeat their cynical populism. The threat they pose is grave. The challenge before us is great.

“This is a battle of competing values. A battle of competing visions. A battle for the future. We didn’t choose this fight. But friends, I know you are up for it. I know together we can win it.”

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Elon Musk’s sale of X to xAI just made fraud lawsuit a ‘lot spicer’

Published

4 hours ago

March 29, 2025

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Elon Musk’s sale of X to xAI just made fraud lawsuit a ‘lot spicer’

Billionaire investor Elon Musk has sold his social media platform X to his AI startup xAI, sparking controversy as it coincides with a US judge rejecting his bid to dismiss a lawsuit tied to the social media platform.

The transfer of ownership of X to xAI on March 28 means that the class-action lawsuit against Musk — accusing him of defrauding former Twitter shareholders by delaying the disclosure of his initial investment in the social media platform — has become “a whole lot spicer,” Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran said in a March 28 X post.

Acquisition may open up xAI to more ‘exposure’

On the same day that Musk said “xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction,” a US judge reportedly rejected Musk’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. Cochran said it has “opened up his AI entity to exposure here too, and it’s a much bigger pie.”

Musk said the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, factoring in $12 billion in debt from the $45 billion valuation. He originally bought X, formerly Twitter, for around $44 billion in April 2022.

“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent,” Musk said.

“This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach,” he said, adding:

“This will allow us to build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress.”

However, Cochran claimed that “Musk used his pumped up xAI stock to pay multiple times over value for X, but still take an $11B loss on the transaction.” He said that Musk is “screwing over xAI investors, and X investors” and was executed to sell user data to xAI.

xAI is best known for its AI chatbot “Grok” which is built into the X platform. When Musk released it in November 2023, he claimed it could outperform OpenAI’s first iteration of ChatGPT in several academic tests.

Musk explained at the time that the motivation behind building Grok is to create AI tools equipped to assist humanity by empowering research and innovation.

While Cochran said that Grok being valued at $80 billion is an “insanely dumb valuation,” crypto developer “Keef” disagrees. Keef said, “This is shady all around, but given the day, Grok is genuinely probably the top model for various tasks.”

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Senators press regulators on Trump’s WLFI stablecoin

Published

7 hours ago

March 28, 2025

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Senators press regulators on Trump’s WLFI stablecoin

Five Democratic lawmakers in the US Senate have called on leadership at regulatory agencies to consider the potential conflicts of interest from a stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto firm backed by US President Donald Trump’s family.

In a March 28 letter from the US Senate Banking Committee, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and four other Democrats asked the Federal Reserve’s committee chair on supervision and regulation, Michelle Bowman, and acting comptroller of the currency, Rodney Hood, how they intended to regulate WLFI and its stablecoin, USD1.

Government, Congress, Donald Trump, Stablecoin — *March 28 letter from five Democratic senators to OCC, Fed leadership. Source:* *US Senate Banking Committee*

The letter came as members of Congress are considering legislation to regulate stablecoins through the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act. The bill, if signed into law, would essentially allow the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Reserve to oversee stablecoin regulation, including for issuers like WLFI and its USD1 coin.

Trump also signed an executive order in February attempting to have all federal agencies — purportedly including the OCC — “regularly consult with and coordinate policies and priorities” with White House officials, giving the US president unprecedented control.

“President Trump’s involvement in this venture, as he strips financial regulators of their independence and Congress simultaneously considers stablecoin legislation, presents an extraordinary conflict of interest that could create unprecedented risks to our financial system and to the integrity of decisions made by the [Fed and OCC],” said the letter, adding:

“The launch of a stablecoin directly tied to a sitting President who stands to benefit financially from the stablecoin’s success presents unprecedented risks to our financial system.”

Since World Liberty launched in September 2024 — months before the US election and Trump’s inauguration — many of the firm’s goals have been shrouded in secrecy. The project’s website notes that Trump and some of his family members control 60% of the company’s equity interests.

As of March 14, World Liberty had completed two public token sales, netting the company a combined $550 million. On March 24, the project confirmed launching its first stablecoin on the BNB Chain and Ethereum. The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also pitched USD1 from the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26 with three of WLFI’s co-founders.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

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US regulators FDIC and CFTC ease crypto restrictions for banks, derivatives

Published

9 hours ago

March 28, 2025

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US regulators FDIC and CFTC ease crypto restrictions for banks, derivatives

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said in a March 28 letter that institutions under its oversight, including banks, can now engage in crypto-related activities without prior approval. The announcement comes as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that digital asset derivatives wouldn’t be treated differently than any other derivatives.

The FDIC letter rescinds a previous instruction under former US President Joe Biden’s administration that required institutions to notify the agency before engaging in crypto-related activities. According to the FDIC’s definition:

”Crypto-related activities include, but are not limited to, acting as crypto-asset custodians; maintaining stablecoin reserves; issuing crypto and other digital assets; acting as market makers or exchange or redemption agents; participating in blockchain- and distributed ledger-based settlement or payment systems, including performing node functions; as well as related activities such as finder activities and lending.”

FDIC-supervised institutions should consider associated risks when engaging in crypto-related activities, it said. These risks include market and liquidity risks, operational and cybersecurity risks, consumer protection requirements, and Anti-Money Laundering requirements.

On March 25, the FDIC eliminated the “reputational risk” category from bank exams, opening a path for banks to work with digital assets. Reputational risk is a term that underscores the dangers banks face when engaging with certain industries.

Digital asset derivatives won’t be treated differently — CFTC

While the US crypto derivatives market had been a gray zone due to regulatory uncertainty, that has been changing. On March 28, the CFTC withdrew a staff advisory letter to ensure that digital asset derivatives — a type of trading product — will not be treated differently from other types of derivatives. The revision is “effective immediately.”

The change in tone from the CFTC and FDIC follows a new environment for crypto firms under US President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump has vowed to make the US “the crypto capital of the planet.”

Crypto firms are shifting strategies to align with the easing regulatory climate. On March 10, Coinbase announced the offer of 24/7 Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures. In addition, the company is reportedly planning to acquire Derebit, a crypto derivatives exchange.

Kraken, another US-based cryptocurrency exchange, has also made moves in the derivatives market. On March 20, it announced the acquisition of NinjaTrader, which would allow the exchange to offer crypto futures and derivatives in the United States.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions