Starmer dealt trade blow as investment minister Gustafsson quits

Published

2 months ago

September 5, 2025

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The investment minister appointed by Sir Keir Starmer less than a year ago is to quit her role, dealing a fresh blow to the government’s fledgling industrial strategy.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Baroness Gustafsson of Chesterton, the former boss of cybersecurity firm Darktrace, intends to relinquish her ministerial role after just 11 months.

Sources said her departure could be announced in the coming days.

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One added that her successor was in the process of being lined up and could be announced shortly, although their identity could not be learned on Friday morning.

Baroness Gustafsson’s resignation as a minister is said to be the result of her challenging professional schedule clashing with the demands of raising a young family, according to a person close to her.

Her departure from the ministerial ranks comes less than three months after Sir Keir Starmer’s government launched its long-term industrial strategy, including an enhanced role for the Office for Investment – the agency responsible for generating billions of pounds of inbound trade for the UK.

At the time of her appointment last year, Baroness Gustafsson said: “It is a huge privilege to be appointed as the minister of investment, and I am excited to get started.

“I have first-hand experience of building and scaling a business here in the UK, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share with the international investment community what I already know to be true: the UK is a great place to do business.”

The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment.

The Conservatives’ shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith, said in response to Sky News’ revelation of Baroness Gustafsson’s decision to quit the government: “This is zero surprise.

“Poppy has a decent claim for constructive dismissal given Labour’s attacks on wealth creators, higher taxes and exodus of international investors since day one.”

Politics

Kraken co-CEO warns UK rules meant to protect users now punish them: FT

Published

1 hour ago

November 12, 2025

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Kraken co-CEO warns UK rules meant to protect users now punish them: FT

Arjun Sethi, the co-CEO of major crypto exchange Kraken, criticized the United Kingdom’s crypto regulations, which he believes hinder services for their customers.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Sethi said that “in the UK today, if you go to any crypto website, including Kraken’s, you see the equivalent to a cigarette box.” He suggested that the disclaimers have a significant impact on customer experience.

Sethi suggested that disclosures slow users down and that, because of the importance of speed in crypto trading, “it’s worse for customers.” He concluded that “disclosures are important […] but if there are 14 steps, it’s worse.”

The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) updated financial promotion regime came into force in October 2023. It introduced a “cooling-off” period for first-time crypto investors and requires firms to assess whether users have sufficient knowledge and experience before trading.

Sethi said that the rules may prompt customers to avoid investing in crypto altogether, potentially leading to missed potential gains. The FCA defended the rules, noting that “some consumers may make an informed decision that investing in crypto is not right for them — that is our rules working as intended.”

Kraken, UK Government, Cryptocurrency Exchange, United Kingdom — Example of disclaimer from the Kraken website. Source: Kraken

The UK is slowly opening to crypto

Despite frustrations with the FCA, the UK appears to be moving toward a broader alignment with the United States on digital-asset oversight.

Lisa Cameron, a former United Kingdom Member of Parliament and founder of the UK-US Crypto Alliance, said she believes a joint “sandbox” between the UK and the US is in development to align their crypto markets.

She came to this conclusion after discussion with US Senators and regulators and expects the sandbox’s purpose to be to “iron out some of this in terms of passporting” for crypto licenses between the UK and the US.

On Monday, the Bank of England published a consultation paper proposing a regulatory framework for stablecoins. The new legislation is focused on sterling-denominated “systemic stablecoins” widely used in payments, similar to the US’s GENIUS Act.

UK looks to the US for an example on crypto

A crypto collaboration between the UK and the US is not a new phenomenon. September reports noted that treasury authorities in the US and UK created a transatlantic task force to explore “short-to-medium term collaboration on digital assets.” Also in September, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed how the two nations could strengthen their coordination on crypto.

September also saw UK trade groups urge the UK government to include blockchain technology in a technology collaboration with the US program known as “Tech Bridge.” A joint letter by the organization warned that “excluding digital assets from the UK-US Tech Bridge would be a missed opportunity,” and that it “risks leaving Britain on the sidelines.”

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