Natalie Elphicke apologises for supporting sex offender ex-husband after concerns from Labour MPs
The MP who defected from the Tories to Labour yesterday has apologised for comments she made supporting her ex-husband after he was convicted of sexual assault.
After former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke was jailed for two years in 2020 for assaulting two women, Natalie Elphicke told the Sun the fact he was “attractive” and “attracted to women” had made him an “easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”.
She called the trial unfair and said the allegations were “complete nonsense” and called her ex-husband “charming, wealthy, charismatic and successful”.
Several Labour MPs said they were not comfortable having an MP in their party who has defended a sex offender.
Jess Phillips, former shadow domestic violence minister, said Mrs Elphicke should “account for her actions”.
Just over 24 hours after defecting, Mrs Elphicke released a statement apologising for her comments.
She said: “My decision to join the Labour Party is not one I have taken lightly but one I made because I am convinced that this country needs a new government led by Keir Starmer to fix the problems we see from housing to small boats.
“I always knew that this decision would put a spotlight on the prosecution of my ex-husband and I want to address some of the commentary around this head on.
“The period of 2017-2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.
Read more: Natalie Elphicke defends MP husband after conviction
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Defecting Tory MP crosses floor to Labour
“I have previously, and do, condemn his behaviour towards other women and towards me. It was right that he was prosecuted and I’m sorry for the comments that I made about his victims.
“It is vital that women can have confidence in the criminal justice system and our rates of prosecution and conviction are far too low as a country.
“Keir Starmer’s mission to halve male violence against women and girls is critical and I wanted to take the opportunity to express my explicit support for Labour colleagues working to realise it.”
Mrs Elphicke ended her marriage to Mr Elphicke moments after he was convicted but supported his unsuccessful appeal, which is when she made the “attractive” comments.
She had supported him until he was convicted and was seen entering the court with him most days of his trial.
After he stepped down as an MP she stood in his Dover seat and won with a large majority.
She will not be standing again in the next election.
Spain’s Sumar parliamentary group has introduced amendments to reform three major tax laws affecting cryptocurrencies, including the General Tax Law, Income Tax Law and Inheritance and Gift Tax Law, according to local media.
The proposal would change how crypto profits are taxed, shifting gains from non-financial-instrument assets into the general income tax bracket, which would raise the top rate to 47% instead of the current 30% savings rate, while setting a flat 30% tax for corporate holders, according to a Tuesday report from CriptoNoticias.
Sumar is a left-wing political alliance that holds 26 of the 350 seats in Spain’s Congress of Deputies as of early 2024. It is also a junior partner in the governing coalition with the Socialist Party.
The plan by the left-wing political platform would also require the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) to create a visual “risk traffic light” system for cryptocurrencies, to be displayed on investor platforms.
Another controversial element is the proposal to classify all cryptocurrencies as attachable assets eligible for seizure. Lawyer Cris Carrascosa said on X that this is unenforceable, especially for tokens like Tether’s USDt (USDT), which cannot be held by regulated custodians under MiCA rules.
Related: How to file crypto taxes in 2025 (US, UK, Germany guide)
Critics call it an attack on Bitcoin
In a post on X, economist and tax adviser José Antonio Bravo Mateu denounced the amendments as “useless attacks against Bitcoin,” arguing that the measures misunderstand how decentralized assets work. He noted that Bitcoin held in self-custody cannot be seized or monitored in the same way as traditional financial assets.
“The only thing these measures achieve is to make its holders residing in Spain think about fleeing when BTC rises so high that they no longer care what politicians say,” he warned.
Meanwhile, tax inspectors Juan Faus and José María Gentil have recently suggested creating a special, more favorable tax regime specifically for Bitcoin (BTC). Their proposal allows taxpayers to separate wallets and apply either FIFO (first-in, first-out) or weighted-average methods, with value adjustments when moving assets between wallets to prevent tax gaming.
Spain’s tax agency has been warning crypto holders about taxes for years, sending 328,000 warning notices for taxes on crypto for the 2022 fiscal year in 2023, followed by 620,000 similar notices a year later.
Related: Bitcoin for taxes? Proposed bill would let Americans pay the IRS in BTC
Japan plans 20% flat tax
While Spain considers increasing taxes on crypto gains, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is pushing for a tax reform that would dramatically reduce the burden on crypto investors.
Instead of taxing crypto earnings as “miscellaneous income” at rates that can reach 55%, Japan aims to apply a flat 20% capital gains tax, bringing digital assets in line with equities and making the country more competitive for traders and businesses.
Magazine: 2026 is the year of pragmatic privacy in crypto — Canton, Zcash and more
Market infrastructure provider Deutsche Börse plans to integrate the EURAU euro-pegged stablecoin issued by AllUnity, expanding the exchange group’s digital-asset strategy following earlier ties with Circle’s Euro Coin (EURC) and Societe Generale-Forge’s EUR CoinVertible (EURCV).
According to a Wednesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Deutsche Börse plans to integrate EURAU into its financial market infrastructure, starting with institutional custody through its central securities depository arm, Clearstream. The announcement also promised a future “integration of the euro stablecoin across the entire service portfolio.”
This would integrate the stablecoin into a sizable and growing market. According to World Federation of Exchanges data, Deutsche Börse’s domestic equity market capitalization is about $2.23 trillion with 474 listed companies.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding, but have not yet shared a specific date for when the new features will go live. AllUnity CEO Alexander Höptner said that the partnership is “making onchain cross-border payments and digital assets accessible to institutional market participants.”
Deutsche Börse Group executive board member Stephanie Eckermann said the “goal is to build a seamless bridge between the established financial world and the future of digital assets.” She added that this partnership is an important part of the effort and that embedding institutional-grade stablecoins allows clients “to confidently explore new possibilities in digital finance.”
Deutsche Börse and AllUnity had not responded to Cointelegraph’s inquiry by time of publication.
Related: Stablecoin panic could upend ECB policy, Dutch central bank governor warns
Deutsche Börse expands euro stablecoin strategy
Deutsche Börse’s EURAU integration follows its partnership with major stablecoin issuer Circle to adopt its EURC token in late September. Earlier this month, the company also announced that it had partnered with Societe Generale-Forge to integrate its EURCV stablecoin.
With this latest deal, Deutsche Börse appears to be playing the stablecoin game on all fronts, adding EURAU, issued by a German BaFin-licensed e-money institution. This complements EURCV, a bank-tied stablecoin, as Societe Generale-Forge is the blockchain arm of major French multinational bank Societe Generale; EURC comes from a US tech-sector issuer.
Related: Aave to offer zero-fee stablecoin ramps in Europe after MiCA approval
EU stablecoin adoption is taking shape with MiCA
While not leading to as many headlines as the United States, the European Union is also making progress in stablecoin adoption following the full introduction of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework at the end of 2024. The announcement noted that the partnership “aligns with MiCA” and “represents a tangible step toward digitizing European markets and enhancing settlement and liquidity processes.”
Höptner said, “Europe is taking a global lead in regulated digital finance.”
Still, while picking up speed, stablecoin adoption remains low in Europe. Earlier this month, financial stability experts at the European Central Bank (ECB) said stablecoin-related risks in the euro area were limited due to low adoption and preventative regulation.
Some analyses point to euro stablecoins as a response to concerns that US dollar-backed stablecoins could threaten the European Union’s monetary independence. “Europe should not be dependent on US dollar-denominated stablecoins, which are currently dominating markets,” Pierre Gramegna, the managing director of the European Stability Mechanism, said earlier this month.
The industry is also seeing increasing involvement by local traditional financial players. In mid-October, Franco-German banking group ODDO BHF launched a stablecoin pegged to the euro under the MiCA framework.
In late September, a group of major European banks joined forces to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin under MiCA. The list of nine banks includes Dutch lender ING and Italy’s UniCredit.
Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight
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