Arrests after Keir Starmer confronted by pro-Palestine activists in Glasgow
Two people have been arrested after Sir Keir Starmer was confronted by pro-Palestine activists in Glasgow.
The Labour leader was met by activists holding Palestinian flags as he arrived at Glasgow Central Station on Thursday evening.
Sir Keir has faced criticism over his stance on the Israel-Hamas war since voting against a ceasefire in Gaza and claiming “Israel has the right” to withhold power and water from Palestinian civilians.
A wave of Labour frontbenchers, including senior MP Jess Phillips, resigned last month in order to back an SNP motion calling for a ceasefire – while some Labour councillors have quit the party over Sir Keir’s position on the war.
As he arrived in Glasgow, one protester shouted: “Keir Starmer you are facilitating Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Stop the massacre of over 7,000 babies.
“Freedom for Palestine, stop the genocide. You’re responsible for killing babies in Gaza.”
Another activist shouted: “Starmer, why did you vote for continued genocide?”
Others called him a “war criminal” and said “you should be in prison”.
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Labour hit by wave of resignations
The protest continued outside the Crowne Plaza hotel, where activists accused Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar of “supporting genocide”.
Sir Keir was in Glasgow to speak at a Scottish Labour winter gala fundraising event.
He was also confronted during his train journey to Scotland, with a passenger asking him: “Keir, how many more children in Palestine have to die before you call for a ceasefire?
“Over 7,000 children have died. Over 7,000 children have been slaughtered by Israel. This is unacceptable.
“What happened to human rights? What happened to democracy?”
Read more:
Why does Starmer not support a ceasefire in Gaza?
People ‘upset and hurt’ by Labour’s initial reaction to Israel-Hamas war
Analysis: Starmer tries to woo Tory voters but is it worth riling up Labour’s left-wing?
Responding to the footage, Ellie Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator, said: “I’m sorry to see those scenes, we have set out what we think is the right thing.
“We welcomed and called for the cessation in hostilities that we saw last week.
“I’m sorry that that hasn’t held and there’s now been further violence.
“We’re facing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and everything needs to be done to avoid that.
“I want to see a further cessation of hostilities, the rest of the hostages released, but also aid going into Gaza.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said the force was “aware” of the protests, adding: “Two people have been arrested in connection with assaulting police officers at Congress Road and inquiries are ongoing.
“There have been no reports of any injuries at either protest.”
The acting chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the regulatory body overseeing banks in the US, is reportedly considering guidance for tokenized deposit insurance and plans to launch an application process for stablecoins by year’s end.
Acting FDIC Chair Travis Hill, who has made bullish statements about tokenization in the past, told the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Fintech Conference on Thursday that the regulator will eventually release guidance around tokenized deposit insurance, according to reports.
The FDIC protects depositors in the event of a bank failure and insures money in accounts at banks that are insured by the regulator.
“My view for a long time has been that a deposit is a deposit. Moving a deposit from a traditional-finance world to a blockchain or distributed-ledger world shouldn’t change the legal nature of it,” Hill said, as reported by Bloomberg.
Strong interest in tokenization
Regulators and Wall Street have shown serious interest in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization sector this year.
Excluding stablecoins, the total value of tokenized real-world assets surpassed $24 billion in the first half of the year, with private credit and US Treasurys making up the bulk of the market, according to a report by RedStone.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is one of the most prominent players in the space and launched a tokenized money market fund called BUIDL in 2024.
Stablecoin application regime by the end of the year
At the same time, Hill reportedly announced the agency is also working on a regime for stablecoin issuance and expects to issue a proposal for an application process by the end of 2025 as part of its duties in crafting rules under the GENIUS Act, according to Law360.
Related: Tokenization demand is no longer tied to Bitcoin: Galaxy executive
He said it’s still too early to know how many institutions will be interested, but the FDIC staff is working on the standards around capital requirements, reserve requirements and risk management for FDIC-regulated stablecoin issuers.
Stablecoins have also been a high-growth area, with banks worldwide exploring this technology. The market capitalization of stablecoins is approximately $305 billion as of Friday, according to blockchain analytics platform DefiLlama.
Magazine: Can Robinhood or Kraken’s tokenized stocks ever be truly decentralized?
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have scrapped plans to break their manifesto pledge and raise income tax rates in a massive U-turn less than two weeks from the budget.
The decision, first reported in the Financial Times, comes after a bruising few days which has brought about a change of heart in Downing Street.
Read more: How No 10 plunged itself into crisis
I understand Downing Street has backed down amid fears about the backlash from disgruntled MPs and voters.
The Treasury and Number 10 declined to comment.
The decision is a massive about-turn. In a news conference last week, the chancellor appeared to pave the way for manifesto-breaking tax rises in the budget on 26 November.
She spoke of difficult choices and insisted she could neither increase borrowing nor cut spending in order to stabilise the economy, telling the public “everyone has to play their part”.
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‘Aren’t you making a mockery of voters?’
The decision to backtrack was communicated to the Office for Budget Responsibility on Wednesday in a submission of “major measures”, according to the Financial Times.
The chancellor will now have to fill an estimated £30bn black hole with a series of narrower tax-raising measures and is also expected to freeze income tax thresholds for another two years beyond 2028, which should raise about £8bn.
Tory shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “We’ve had the longest ever run-up to a budget, damaging the economy with uncertainty, and yet – with just days to go – it is clear there is chaos in No 10 and No 11.”
How did we get here?
For weeks, the government has been working up options to break the manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT on working people.
I was told only this week the option being worked up was to do a combination of tax rises and action on the two-child benefit cap in order for the prime minister to be able to argue that in breaking his manifesto pledges, he is trying his hardest to protect the poorest in society and those “working people” he has spoken of so endlessly.
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Ed Conway on the chancellor’s options
But days ago, officials and ministers were working on a proposal to lift the basic rate of income tax – perhaps by 2p – and then simultaneously cut national insurance contributions for those on the basic rate of income tax (those who earn up to £50,000 a year).
That way the chancellor can raise several billion in tax from those with the “broadest shoulders” – higher-rate taxpayers and pensioners or landlords, while also trying to protect “working people” earning salaries under £50,000 a year.
The chancellor was also going to take action on the two-child benefit cap in response to growing demand from the party to take action on child poverty. It is unclear whether those plans will now be shelved given the U-turn on income tax.
A rough week for the PM
The change of plan comes after the prime minister found himself engulfed in a leadership crisis after his allies warned rivals that he would fight any attempted post-budget coup.
It triggered a briefing war between Wes Streeting and anonymous Starmer allies attacking the health secretary as the chief traitor.
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Wes Streeting: Faithful or traitor? Beth Rigby’s take
Read more: Is Starmer ‘in office but not in power’?
The prime minister has since apologised to Mr Streeting, who I am told does not want to press for sackings in No 10 in the wake of the briefings against him.
But the saga has further damaged Sir Keir and increased concerns among MPs about his suitability to lead Labour into the next general election.
Insiders clearly concluded that the ill mood in the party, coupled with the recent hits to the PM’s political capital, makes manifesto-breaking tax rises simply too risky right now.
But it also adds to a sense of chaos, given the chancellor publicly pitch-rolled tax rises in last week’s news conference.
The home secretary is set to unveil sweeping reforms to tackle illegal immigration, as she considers potential changes to human rights law.
Shabana Mahmood will announce on Monday a series of measures to make it easier to remove and deport illegal migrants, and reduce the “pull factors” that make the UK attractive to asylum seekers.
The Home Office said they would be the “most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times”.
She is said to believe that “excessive generosity and ease of remaining” in the UK, along with systemic barriers, has made deportations extremely difficult, The Times reported.
It is understood that many of the changes set to be proposed by the home secretary will be modelled on the Danish system, under which 95% of failed asylum seekers are deported.
Denmark has tighter rules on family reunions, and restricts some refugees to a temporary stay.
Read more: Could Danish model save Labour’s bacon?
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UK considers copying Denmark’s immigration system
Ms Mahmood is also mulling reforms to the European Convention on Human Rights and human rights law to “end the abuse of the system that leads to unjustified claims to delay or stop deportations”, a Home Office source said.
The overhaul of modern slavery laws will require migrants to make a claim that they have been a victim as soon as they arrive in the UK, rather than allowing them to raise it unexpectedly later on, which has resulted in delayed deportations, The Telegraph reported.
The number of offences qualifying foreign criminals for automatic removal is also set to be increased, the paper said.
And judges are expected to be required to prioritise public safety over claims from migrants that deporting them would breach their family rights or put them at risk of “inhuman” treatment if they were returned to their home country.
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Sky News witnesses people smuggling operation in Dunkirk
Deportations are up – but so are boat crossings
Ahead of next week’s announcements, the Home Office released new figures showing 48,560 people have been removed from the UK since Labour came to power.
The figure, which includes failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and others with no right to be in the UK, is a 23% increase compared to the 16 months before last year’s election.
Read more politics news:
Under-fire Starmer aide won’t quit
Plans to raise income tax in budget ditched
Ms Mahmood said: “We’ve ramped up enforcement, deported foreign criminals from our streets, and saved taxpayers millions.
However, small boat crossings continue to rise – 39,075 people have made the journey so far this year, according to Home Office figures.
That is an increase of 19% on the same point in 2024 and up 43% on 2023, but remains 5% lower than the equivalent point in 2022, which remains the peak year for crossings.
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