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Liz Kendall has defended the government’s welfare U-turn saying: “Sometimes there is strength in listening.”

The embattled work and pensions secretary said “positive changes” have come about as a result of crisis talks with senior Labour backbenchers, who were poised to vote against planned cuts to disability benefits next week.

Politics latest: Welfare changes ‘could cost £3.2bn per year by 2030’

However, she would not guarantee the bill will pass, amid criticism from some MPs the changes don’t go far enough.

The welfare concessions follow a U-turn over cuts to winter fuel and the decision to launch a grooming inquiry.

Asked how the government can be trusted, Ms Kendall said: “Sometimes there’s strength in listening.

“I really believe that to be the case, that you end up in the right position when you talk to all of those with knowledge and experience and actually, if you want decisions to be the right ones and to last for generations to come, I believe that’s how you make the right changes.”

The concessions include exempting existing personal independence claimants (pip) from the stricter new criteria, while the universal credit health top-up will only be cut and frozen for new applications.

This has led to criticism of a two-tier system, but Ms Kendall said it is “very common in the welfare system that there are protections for existing claimants”.

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“No leadership” in Labour says Tory MP

She said she “hopes” the changes have done enough to get the bill over the line next week.

The cabinet minister also said government had “more to do” and would “talk to people over the coming days”, with many MPs still on the fence about whether they will back the new proposals.

The concessions were hashed out last night after a frantic ring around of MPs earlier in the week failed to bring critics onside.

The government had planned to tighten pip criteria for new and existing claimants, with some 370,000 people set to lose out.

It was part of a package of measures aimed at shaving £5bn off the welfare bill by 2030 and getting more people into work amid record levels of economic inactivity.

However, MPs were concerned that disabled people had not been consulted, while the government’s own impact assessment said the changes could plunge 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children.

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Welfare reforms ‘Step in the right direction’

Ministers insisted this would be offset by measures to get people back into work, but many rebel MPs said while they agreed with that in principle it wasn’t clear how this will be achieved.

By Thursday, 127 Labour MPs had backed an amendment calling for the changes to be paused for further consultation – meaning the bill was at risk of being defeated when it goes to a vote on Tuesday.

Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury select committee who had tabled the amendment, said last night that the government had offered a “good deal”.

Read more:
Beth Rigby analysis: Welfare bill a humiliating blow for Starmer
What are the concessions to the welfare bill – and will MPs back it?

Ultimately, individual MPs will decide if they want to support it.

Many MPs on the left of the party have said they won’t, with the likes of Ian Byrne and Nadia Whittome saying no concessions are enough while cuts are still going ahead and the bill should be pulled.

Others have told Sky News they are undecided and want to see more details first.

None of the rebels have publicly said they will now support the government, but two have told Sky News they expect they will vote for the new measures.

It’s not clear how much the new package will save, with those details expected to by set out in the autumn budget.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said on Friday that the changes will be fully funded but refused to be drawn on whether that meant tax rises.

He rejected the suggestion that Sir Keir is at the mercy of his backbenchers, saying he has “listened to MPs who support principles but worried about pace of change”.

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Ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana at centre of new party row over £800k in donations

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Ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana at centre of new party row over £800k in donations

Donations being held by Zarah Sultana will be transferred over to Your Party in tranches from this week, Sky News has been told, but the party stand-off remains.

Ms Sultana has sole control of over £800,000 of Your Party donations following an internal fallout.

Her spokesperson told Sky News £600k would be transferred over in three tranches starting with £200k from Wednesday, and the rest “once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full”.

But a Your Party source told Sky News she should transfer the full £800k worth of donations now.

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It follows a major row over finances behind the scenes of the new left-wing party, which Ms Sultana co-launched with Jeremy Corbyn in July.

At the time, a company called MOU Operations was used to collect donations, with the idea this would be transferred over to Your Party once it was formally registered with the Electoral Commission.

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The registration happened on 30 September, but no transfer of funds has been made – despite Ms Sultana stepping in to take ownership of MOU last month after its previous three directors quit.

MOU is holding around £800k of donations in total, as well as around £500k in fees collected as part of Ms Sultana’s unauthorised membership launch, Sky News understands.

Ms Sultana’s spokesperson said £600k would be transferred over in three tranches, and the rest “once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full”.

The Your Party source told Sky News that Ms Sultana has been told Your Party can’t accept the money related to her membership launch due to legal risks and accused her of trying to “offload” it.

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Can Your Party get it together?

Ms Sultana agreed to take over MOU to break a standoff between Your Party and the company’s previous three directors – former Labour MP Beth Winter, former Labour mayor Jamie Driscoll and former South African politician Andrew Feinstein.

The trio set up MOU in April to assist with a new left-wing party centred around Mr Corbyn but resigned on 29 October, claiming the role of holding donations had been “thrust upon” them and raising concerns about a “lack of appropriate governance” within Your Party.

The statement said they hadn’t transferred over the funds because they were worried about legal liabilities and wanted Your Party to take over the company instead – but five of the six founding MPs refused.

Ms Sultana said her stepping in would “bring the chapter to a close” and “these resources will now be used for Your Party, as was always intended”.

However that angered some within Your Party who say this is a mess of her own making because of the membership fiasco, which is still being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

‘Low trust environment’

While Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana have since patched things up, one Your Party source described operating in a “low trust environment”.

Senior Your Party figures have accused Ms Sultana of deliberately withholding MOU’s funds for political leverage despite privately and publicly committing to the transfer. Organisers expressed frustration at operating on a “shoestring” ahead of the founding conference at the end of this month.

However, allies close to the Coventry South MP have dismissed the “hostile briefings” and insist she has been conducting “due diligence” before sending the money over.

Sky News understands Ms Sultana has been seeking Your Party’s constitution and financial scheme as registered with the Electoral Commission, to help her understand the party’s governing structures.

A source close to her claims there has been an unwillingness to share the documents from within Your Party, so she has requested them from the elections watchdog directly.

It is not clear who wrote the documents and who is controlling access to them – or why one of the party’s founders should not be able to see them.

A spokesperson for Ms Sultana said: “Zarah did not choose to become the sole director of MOU Operations Limited, but was prepared to take on this responsibility to ensure funds are transferred as quickly as possible and preparations for the founding conference can progress.

“As sole director, she is legally responsible for ensuring the company’s costs, liabilities and expenses are settled, and this process may take some time. To ensure funds are available for the founding conference, she will transfer £600k in tranches over the next couple of weeks. The first £200k is scheduled to be sent 12 November.

“All remaining funds will be transferred once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full.”

A Your Party spokesperson said: “We are completely focused on putting together a successful founding conference for our members, so they can democratically decide Your Party’s structures and programme, and Britain can get the socialist alternative it so badly needs. Hundreds of volunteers are working tirelessly on a shoestring budget to make this a reality, a testament to the grassroots power of our mass movement.”

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XRP rallies on US shutdown nearing end, ETF tickers landing on DTCC

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XRP rallies on US shutdown nearing end, ETF tickers landing on DTCC

Excitement in the crypto community is growing over the potential launch of XRP funds, as the US Senate advances a deal aimed at ending the longest-ever government shutdown.

The Senate reportedly reached a deal on a budget bill to end the government shutdown on Sunday, sending a bullish signal to numerous markets, including crypto.

The XRP (XRP) community is anticipating multiple XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to launch shortly, with several already appearing on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website ahead of a possible launch this month.

The price of XRP has rallied more than 12% on the bullish news over the past 24 hours, with the token trading at $2.56 at the time of publication, according to CoinGecko.

11 XRP products listed on DTCC

As of Monday, the DTCC website featured 11 XRP ETF products on its “active and pre-launch” listing, including those by 21Shares, ProShares, Bitwise, Canary Capital, Volatility Shares, REX-Osprey, CoinShares, Amplify and Franklin Templeton.

Although a DTCC listing does not equal actual launch and does not guarantee regulatory approval, it signals that the ETF infrastructure is ready to be traded on US markets.

The list of XRP products listed on the DTCC as of Monday. Source: DTCC

It’s worth noting that Grayscale’s XRP Trust (GXRP) has not yet appeared on the DTCC website, and the list also does not currently include an XRP fund from WisdomTree.

“Government shutdown ending = spot crypto ETF floodgates opening,” ETF expert Nate Geraci wrote in an X post on Sunday, adding: “In the meantime, could see first ‘33 Act spot xrp ETF launch this week.”

Related: End to US gov’t shutdown sparks institutional buying, ETF ‘floodgate’ hopes

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas also posted on X on Sunday, noting that the “shutdown is over” and highlighting a subsequent uptick in US equity futures.

“The SEC had open litigation against Ripple for the past five years, up until three months ago. IMO, the launch of spot XRP ETFs represents the final nail in the coffin for the previous wave of anti-crypto regulators,” he wrote in an X post on Nov. 2.

Ripple, SEC, XRP, ETF, Policy
Source: Nate Geraci

He also highlighted a post from Canary Capital, which claimed last Friday that its XRP ETF is “coming soon,” speculating that the product could go live by the end of this week.