Less than 1% of small boat arrivals returned home since 2020 – as cost of Bibby Stockholm revealed

Published

1 year ago

December 13, 2023

admin

Less than 1% of people who have arrived in the UK on small boats since 2020 have been returned to their home country, new statistics reveal.

The numbers showed that when Albanians were taken out of the figures – as the UK has signed a separate returns agreement with the country – just 408 people had been sent home in the past three years, despite 109,117 arriving via Channel crossings, an equivalent of 0.37%.

The government’s new illegal migration minister, Michael Tomlinson, said he wanted to see the return figure “as high as possible”, adding: “I am reading the same chart and, as far as I am concerned the numbers need to be significantly higher than that.”

But he and his colleague, legal migration minister Tom Pursglove, were slammed by the Home Affairs Select Committee for not being across the figures themselves.

During the committee hearing, it was also revealed the cost of housing asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge was more than £22m.

Politics live: ‘Tech bro’ Sunak mocked during ‘panto season’ PMQs

The figures were handed over to the committee late on Tuesday in a letter from Home Office permanent secretary, Sir Matthew Rycroft.

He had appeared in front of the cross-party group of MPs two weeks ago but was attacked for being “disrespectful” by its chair, Dame Diana Johnson, when he struggled to answer questions on the specifics of immigration statistics.

The Labour chair then had to chase Sir Matthew for answers, which only appeared the night before Wednesday’s hearing, and which neither Mr Tomlinson nor Mr Pursglove seemed to be aware of.

Dame Diana put the returns number to the ministers early on in the hearing and they claimed to not recognise that figure.

However, when pressed, they could not give what they believed to be the correct number.

This was the last straw for Dame Diana, who said after the “disaster” of the hearing with Sir Matthew, she expected better.

“I appreciate you are very new in post,” she said. “But equally, this committee is now getting to the point where I think it is incredibly disrespectful in the way the Home Office is treating members of parliament.”

Mr Tomlinson tried to defend himself, saying while he aimed to be “constructive” with the committee, they should put forward “specific questions” ahead of appearances.

But this got short shrift from the chair, who said: “Asking questions on how many people have been returned who came by small boats is not the kind of thing I would expect to have to give notice of to the Home Office for.

“If you come in front of a committee, we are going to ask you those questions, we all know this is a really typical issue, we are all concerned about it, we all want to know.

“You are grown-ups, you are politicians, you have been around, you know what the issues are.”

Sir Matthew’s letter also revealed the exact cost of housing asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm – a total of £22,450,772.

The permanent secretary also said an updated assessment of whether it was “value for money” would be released in the new year.

But Dame Diana said she was “flabbergasted” such an assessment had not taken place already when the vessel is already in use.

Mr Pursglove said the word “updated” was important, insinuating assessments had already taken place.

But pushed for details on that, he again did not have the data, and just said using a barge was “undoubtedly a more cost-effective way” to house people than using hotels.

Speaking after the hearing, Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “Today’s admissions from the Home Office show the truly appalling scale of Tory failure and chaos including a disastrously low level of enforcement in the asylum system.

“We can’t continue with this damaging and costly chaos.”

Politics

US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

Published

5 hours ago

April 17, 2025

admin

US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

A US federal judge has agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.

Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.

He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.

Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.

The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.”

The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.

“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated.

DeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker rule

Meanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16.

“The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing.

The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.

On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.

It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

Politics

Panama’s capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees

Published

13 hours ago

April 16, 2025

admin

<div>Panama's capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees</div>

Panama’s capital city will accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, including bus tickets and permits, Panama City mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on April 15, joining a growing list of jurisdictions globally that have voted to accept such payments.

Panama City will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Circle’s USDC (USDC), and Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin for payment once the crypto-to-fiat payment rails are established, Mizrachi posted on the X platform.

Mizrachi said previous administrations attempted to push through similar legislation but failed to overcome stipulations requiring the local government to accept funds denominated in US dollars.

In a translated statement, the Panama City mayor said that the local government partnered with a bank that will immediately convert any digital assets received into US dollars, allowing the municipality to accept crypto without introducing new legislation.

Panama City joins a growing list of global jurisdictions on the municipal and state level accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes, exploring Bitcoin strategic reserves to protect public treasuries from inflation and passing pro-crypto policies to attract investment.

Taxes, Panama, Bitcoin Adoption — *Source:* *Mayer Mizrachi*

Municipalities and states embrace digital assets

Several municipalities and territories around the globe already accept crypto for tax payments or are exploring various implementations of blockchain technology for government spending.

The US state of Colorado started accepting crypto payments for taxes in September 2022. Much like Panama City said it will do, Colorado immediately converts the crypto to fiat.

In December 2023, the city of Lugano, Switzerland, announced taxes and city fees could be paid in Bitcoin, which was one of the developments that earned it the reputation of being a globally recognized Bitcoin city.

The city council of Vancouver, Canada, passed a motion to become “Bitcoin-friendly city” in December 2024. As part of that motion, the Vancouver local government will explore integrating BTC into the financial system, including tax payments.

North Carolina lawmaker Neal Jackson introduced legislation titled “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act” on April 10. If passed, the bill will recognize cryptocurrencies as an official form of payment that can be used to pay taxes.

Magazine: Crypto City: The ultimate guide to Miami

Politics

Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Published

15 hours ago

April 16, 2025

admin

<div>Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation</div>

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal” following a difficult “wave of failures and frauds,” he said.

Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Powell delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago. Source: Bloomberg Television

During crypto’s difficult years, which culminated in 2022 and 2023 with several high-profile business failures, the Fed “worked with Congress to try to get a […] legal framework for stablecoins, which would have been a nice place to start,” said Powell. “We were not successful.”

“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into more mainstreaming of that whole sector, so Congress is again looking […] at a legal framework for stablecoins,” he said.

“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” said Powell.

This isn’t the first time Powell acknowledged the need for stablecoin legislation. In June 2023, the Fed boss told the House Financial Services Committee that stablecoins were “a form of money” that requires “robust” federal oversight.

Support for stablecoin legislation is growing

The election of US President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of pro-crypto appointments and policy shifts that could make America a digital asset superpower.

Washington’s formal embrace of cryptocurrency began earlier this year when Trump established the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, with Bo Hines as the executive director.

Hines told a digital asset summit in New York last month that a comprehensive stablecoin bill was a top priority for the current administration. After the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act, a final stablecoin bill could arrive at the president’s desk “in the next two months,” said Hines.

Bo Hines (right) speaks of “imminent” stablecoin legislation at the Digital Asset Summit on March 18. Source: Cointelegraph

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are by far the most popular tokens used for remittances and cryptocurrency trading.

The combined value of all stablecoins is currently $227 billion, according to RWA.xyz. The dollar-pegged USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) account for more than 88% of the total market.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom