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

Published

1 month ago

March 30, 2025

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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

Environment secretary defends green policies – after Sir Tony Blair says net zero is ‘doomed to fail’

Published

18 mins ago

April 30, 2025

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Environment secretary defends green policies - after Sir Tony Blair says net zero is 'doomed to fail'

The environment secretary has defended the government’s net zero agenda after Sir Tony Blair said phasing out fossil fuels was “doomed to fail”.

The former prime minister said the approach to transitioning to a green economy wasn’t “working” and was “inadequate” in a report published yesterday by the Tony Blair Institute.

But speaking to Sky News’ Wilfred Frost on Breakfast, Steve Reed said the government was “moving away from sticking plaster solutions towards doing what’s right for the future of the economy, and for the future of households”.

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He said transitioning to a green economy was necessary for the UK to take back “control of our own energy supply” especially in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In his foreword to the report, Sir Tony called the whole strategy of transitioning to a green economy “unrealistic”.

“Present policy solutions are inadequate and, worse, are distorting the debate into a quest for a climate platform that is unrealistic and therefore unworkable,” he wrote.

“Too often, political leaders fear saying what many know to be true: the current approach isn’t working.”

Asked whether he believed Sir Tony was right to say the focus shouldn’t be on using less fossil fuels but on using methods such as carbon capture, Mr Reed conceded that “we’ll still be using fossil fuels… for some time to come”.

He added: “For many decades to come. The transition is so, so transition isn’t gonna happen overnight.”

Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins told Sky News that Sir Tony’s message should prompt a “rethink” in government.

“If even Tony Blair doesn’t agree with the Labour government, then that is quite a clear message. I would imagine to them that they have got to rethink this.”

Politics

SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2025

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SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

PayPal says the US Securities and Exchange Commission has abandoned its investigation into the payment giant’s US-dollar stablecoin.

PayPal said in an April 29 regulatory filing that the SEC concluded its investigation into PayPal USD (PYUSD) and wouldn’t be taking any action.

The company said it received a subpoena from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement over its stablecoin in November 2023.

“The subpoena requests the production of documents. We are cooperating with the SEC in connection with this request,” PayPal stated at the time.

In its latest filing, the firm said the SEC notified it in February that the agency “was closing this inquiry without enforcement action.”

PayPal has said its stablecoin is 100% redeemable for US dollars and “fully backed” by dollar deposits, including short-term treasuries and cash equivalents.

However, the stablecoin has struggled to gain momentum in a crowded market dominated by rivals Tether and Circle. PYUSD has a market capitalization of just $880 million, less than 1% of Tether’s (USDT) $148.5 billion.

PayPal’s stablecoin has seen better growth this year with a 75% increase in PYUSD circulating supply since the beginning of 2025, according to CoinGecko. It remains down 14% from its peak supply of just over $1 billion in August 2024.

Earnings on PYUSD, Coinbase partnership

That growth could be bolstered by a company announcement on April 23 introducing rewards for PYUSD in a new loyalty offering that will enable US users to earn 3.7% annually for holding the asset on the platform.

Meanwhile, on April 24, PayPal announced a partnership with Coinbase to increase the adoption of PYUSD.

“We are excited to drive new, exciting, and innovative use cases together with Coinbase and the entire cryptocurrency community, putting PYUSD at the center,” said Alex Chriss, PayPal President and CEO.

The payments giant also reported robust first-quarter earnings and the completion of significant share repurchase activities.

The firm beat Wall Street estimates, earning $1.33 per share in the first quarter, topping analyst expectations of $1.16. Revenue rose 1% from a year before to $7.8 billion.

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Politics

BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2025

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BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

Asset manager BlackRock has filed to create digital ledger technology shares from one of the firm’s money market funds, which will leverage blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for investors.

The DLT shares will track BlackRock’s BLF Treasury Trust Fund (TTTXX), which may only be purchased from BlackRock Advisors and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the firm said in its April 29 Form N-1A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The money market fund holds over $150 million worth of assets, invested almost entirely in US Treasury bills and cash.

BlackRock said that the shares “are expected to be purchased and held through BNY, which intends to use blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for its customers.”

Unlike the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), DLT shares won’t be tokenized but will instead be used as a transparency tool to verify ownership.

BlackRock will continue to maintain traditional book-entry records as the official ownership ledger.

BlackRock didn’t propose a ticker or set a management fee for the DLT shares in its filing.

A minimum initial investment of $3 million worth of DLT is required for institutions seeking to purchase the digital shares.

BlackRock follows Fidelity’s March 21 filing to list an Ethereum-based OnChain share class, which seeks to track the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) — an $80 million fund consisting almost entirely of US Treasury bills.

While the OnChain share class filing is pending regulatory approval, Fidelity expects it to take effect on May 30.

Wall Street heavyweights continue to explore blockchain use cases

Asset managers have increasingly turned to blockchain to tokenize Treasury bills, bonds and private credit over the past few years.

The treasury tokenization market is currently valued at $6.16 billion, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL at $2.55 billion, while the Franklin Templeton-issued Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (BENJI) secures over $700 million worth of real-world assets, according to rwa.xyz.

Ethereum remains the chain of choice for tokenizing treasury assets, and currently houses over $4.55 billion worth, while the Stellar network and Solana round out the top three at $474.9 million and $274.5 million, respectively.

The potential of RWA tokenization has also been championed by BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, who believes the technology could revolutionize investing.

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