‘Child poverty will increase for first time under Labour and it’s paving way for Reform’, Corbyn warns Starmer

Published

3 days ago

March 27, 2025

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Child poverty is set to increase under a Labour government for the first time in history and an “alternative path” is needed to stop the rise of Reform UK, Sir Keir Starmer has been warned.

A joint statement signed by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other cross-party MPs calls for a wealth tax on those with assets over £10m “so we can rebuild our schools and hospitals”.

Politics Live: Protesters interrupt minister’s speech

The letter, in response to Rachel Reeves’s spring statement, says the chancellor has made a “choice” to push more disabled people and children into poverty by announcing departmental spending cuts while increasing money invested into defence.

“This isn’t about scarcity, it’s about priorities”, it said, adding: “This is set to be the first Labour government in history under which child poverty increases.

“Labour’s failure has paved the way for Reform. We need an alternative path.

“Parroting the rhetoric of Reform UK on migrants, minorities and Muslims just endorses their scapegoating and makes society worse for us all.”

As well as Mr Corbyn, who is now an independent MP, the statement was signed by suspended Labour MPs Sarah Zultana and Apsana Begum, Green MPs, independents and other figures calling for “progressive politics”.

It comes ahead of the launch of Reform UK’s local election campaign on Friday, with the party hoping to make gains in May after overtaking Labour in multiple polls.

The letter describes the “alternative path” as one where the richest in society and multinational companies face higher taxes, rent controls are brought in, water and energy are nationalised and money is invested “in welfare, not warfare”.

These measures have previously been ruled out by Ms Reeves, but she is coming under pressure following her spring statement on Wednesday.

Spring statement takeaways

The economic update included a £2.2bn increase in defence spending over the next year to help the government reach its goal of spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2027.

The chancellor also deepened previously announced welfare cuts alongside further departmental spending reductions to make up for £10bn in lost fiscal headroom since her October budget, caused by poor growth and global instability.

The government’s own impact assessment estimates another 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – could be pushed into relative poverty by 2030 because of the measures.

However Ms Reeves said that assessment did not take into account steps the government was taking to get people back into work. She has also rejected a separate analysis that suggests the average family could be £1,400 a year worse off by the end of the decade.

Labour MPs unhappy

Several Labour MPs have spoken out against the cuts and some have said they will vote against them. However Ms Reeves is believed to have staved off a full-scale rebellion for now, as most trust she is serious about getting the nation’s finances back on track.

The chancellor is determined to stick to her self-imposed fiscal rules, including using tax receipts rather than borrowing to account for day-to-day spending.

However she may come under pressure to change course if global factors like Donald Trump’s trade war eat into her fiscal headroom again by the time of the next budget in October – meaning she would have to raise taxes or announce further spending cuts in order to balance the books.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned tax rises are likely in the autumn as Ms Reeves has left herself vulnerable to forecast changes, speculating that pensioners and the wealthiest could be targeted in the raid.

Earlier this week, a YouGov poll found three quarters of the British public would support tax rises on the very richest over expected cuts to public spending, including a 2% wealth tax on net assets worth more than £10m.

Politics

‘Two-tier justice’ row: Government plans to change law to overrule Sentencing Council

Published

2 hours ago

March 30, 2025

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'Two-tier justice' row: Government plans to change law to overrule Sentencing Council

The government plans to change the law so it can overrule Sentencing Council guidelines following a row over “two-tier justice”, Sky News understands.

The independent Sentencing Council, which sets out sentencing guidance to courts in England and Wales, has been at odds with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood for weeks after it updated its guidance.

It said that from April, a pre-sentence report, the results of which are taken into account when considering a criminal’s sentence, will “usually be necessary” before handing out punishment for someone from an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.

Conservative shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick called the guidance “two-tier justice” and said there was “blatant bias” against Christians and straight white men, as he said it would make “a custodial sentence less likely for those from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community”.

Ms Mahmood had called on the Sentencing Council to reverse the guidance, but it refused, which Sir Keir Starmer said he was “disappointed” with, and the justice secretary called “unacceptable”.

Before the weekend, Sir Keir said “all options are on the table” over how the government might respond.

But sources have now told Sky News the Ministry of Justice plans to legislate at the “earliest opportunity” to be able to overrule sentencing guidelines.

Ministers could introduce the legislation as early as Monday so they can “push it through parliament”, so the current guidelines can be changed quickly.

Until the law is changed so the government can dismiss the Sentencing Council guidelines, the body can plough ahead with the changes as it is independent of the state.

In reply to Ms Mahmood’s letter calling for a reversal, the Sentencing Council’s chair, Lord Justice William Davis, said on Friday that the reforms reflect evidence of disparities in sentencing outcomes, disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system and complexities in the circumstances of individual offenders.

He said pre-sentence reports allow judges to be “better equipped” to “avoid a difference in outcome based on ethnicity”.

“The cohort of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups may be a cohort about which judges and magistrates are less well informed,” he added.

Sky News has contacted the Sentencing Council for a comment on the potential law changes.

Politics

Trump’s trade war pressures crypto market as April 2 tariffs loom

Published

7 hours ago

March 30, 2025

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Trump’s trade war pressures crypto market as April 2 tariffs loom

Concerns over a global trade war continue to pressure traditional and cryptocurrency markets as investors brace for a potential tariff announcement from US President Donald Trump on April 2 — a move that could set the tone for Bitcoin’s price trajectory throughout the month.

Trump first announced import tariffs on Chinese goods on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration as president.

Global tariff fears have led to heightened inflation concerns, limiting appetite for risk assets among investors. Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen 18%, and the S&P 500 (SPX) index has fallen more than 7% in the two months following the initial tariff announcement, according to TradingView data, TradingView data shows.

“Going forward, April 2 is drawing increased attention as a potential flashpoint for fresh US tariff announcements,” Stella Zlatareva, dispatch editor at digital asset investment platform Nexo, told Cointelegraph.

Investor sentiment took another hit on March 29 after Trump pressed his senior advisers to take a more aggressive stance on import tariffs, which may be seen as a potential escalation of the trade war, the Washington Post reported, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The April 2 announcement is expected to detail reciprocal trade tariffs targeting top US trading partners. The measures aim to reduce the country’s estimated $1.2 trillion goods trade deficit and boost domestic manufacturing.

Bitcoin ETFs, whales continue accumulating

Despite mounting uncertainty, large Bitcoin holders — known as “whales,” with between 1,000 BTC and 10,000 BTC — have continued to accumulate.

Addresses in this category have remained steady since the beginning of 2025, from 1,956 addresses on Jan. 1 to over 1,990 addresses on March 27 — still below the previous cycle’s peak of 2,370 addresses recorded in February 2024, Glassnode data shows.

“Risk appetite remains muted amid tariff threats from President Trump and ongoing macro uncertainty,” according to Iliya Kalchev, dispatch analyst at Nexo, who told Cointelegraph:

“Still, BTC accumulation by whales and a 10-day ETF inflow streak point to steady institutional demand. But hawkish surprises — from inflation or trade — may keep crypto rangebound into April.”

The US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds halted their 10-day accumulation streak on March 28 when Fidelity’s ETF recorded over $93 million worth of outflows, while the other ETF issuers registered no inflows or outflows, Farside Investors data shows.

Despite short-term volatility concerns, analysts remained optimistic about Bitcoin’s price trajectory for late 2025, with price predictions ranging from $160,000 to above $180,000.

Magazine: SCB tips $500K BTC, SEC delays Ether ETF options, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 23 – March 1

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Stablecoin rules needed in US before crypto tax reform, experts say

Published

10 hours ago

March 30, 2025

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Stablecoin rules needed in US before crypto tax reform, experts say

United States cryptocurrency regulations need more clarity on stablecoins and banking relationships before lawmakers prioritize tax reform, according to industry leaders and legal experts.

“In my view, tax isn’t necessarily the priority for upgrading US crypto regulation,” according to Mattan Erder, general counsel at layer-3 decentralized blockchain network Orbs.

A “tailored regulatory approach” for areas including securities laws and removing “obstacles in banking” is a priority for US lawmakers with “more upside” for the industry, Erder told Cointelegraph.

“The new Trump administration is clearly all in on crypto and is taking steps that we could have only dreamed about a few years ago (including during his first term),” he said. “It seems likely that crypto regulation will be able to have it all and get much more clear and rational regulation in all areas, including tax.”

Still, Erder noted there are limits to what President Donald Trump can accomplish through executive orders and regulatory agency action alone. “At some point, the laws themselves will need to change, and for that, he will need Congress,” he said.

Trump’s March 7 executive order, which directed the government to establish a national Bitcoin reserve using crypto assets seized in criminal cases, was seen as a signal of growing federal support for digital assets.

Debanking concerns remain

Despite the administration’s recent pro-crypto moves, industry experts say crypto firms may continue to face difficulties with banking access until at least January 2026.

“It’s premature to say that debanking is over,” as “Trump won’t have the ability to appoint a new Fed governor until January,” Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction daily X show.

The Crypto Debanking Crisis: #CHAINREACTION https://t.co/nD4qkkzKnB

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 21, 2025

Industry outrage over alleged debanking reached a crescendo when a June 2024 lawsuit spearheaded by Coinbase resulted in the release of letters showing US banking regulators asked certain financial institutions to “pause” crypto banking activities.

Stablecoin legislation could unlock new growth

David Pakman, managing partner at crypto investment firm CoinFund, said a stablecoin regulatory framework could encourage more traditional finance institutions to adopt blockchain-based payments.

“Some of the potentially soon-to-pass legislation in the US, like the stablecoin bill, will unlock many of the traditional banks, financial services and payment companies onto crypto rails,” Pakman said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live X show on March 27.

“We hear this firsthand when we talk to them; they want to use crypto rails as a lower-cost, transparent, 24/7, and no middleman-dependent network for transferring money.”

The comments come as the industry awaits progress on US stablecoin legislation, which may come as soon as in the next two months, according to Bo Hines, the executive director of the president’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets.

The GENIUS Act, an acronym for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, would establish collateralization guidelines for stablecoin issuers while requiring full compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.