Keir Starmer brands Rishi Sunak’s tax claims ‘garbage’ – but poll suggests PM came out on top

Published

2 years ago

June 4, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer said it was “garbage” to claim he would raise taxes by £2,000 as he traded blows with Rishi Sunak in their heated first TV debate.

The Labour leader initially failed to challenge the prime minister’s repeated accusations that Labour’s spending plans would cost each family £2,000.

He eventually called it “nonsense” and “absolute garbage”, saying his pledge to invest in green projects would result in cheaper energy bills.

Politics latest: Voters think Sunak performed better in first TV debate

Labour said the figure is based on misleading information put out in a “dodgy Tory dossier” and called on Mr Sunak to correct the record.

One of their 11 rebuttals is that the costings rely on “assumptions from special advisors”, rather than an impartial Civil Service assessment.

Sir Keir initially struggled to explain this during a debate that saw the pair repeatedly talk over each other, forcing ITV host Julie Ethcingham to intervene and cut them off.

A snap YouGov poll after the clash suggested Mr Sunak narrowly came out on top – with 51% of the audience believing he fared slightly better than Sir Keir.

However, Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth told Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates that Labour are leaving the debate “stronger tonight” as he accused Mr Sunak of “lying” about Labour’s tax policies.

“Rishi Sunak out of desperation had to collapse into lying in that debate,” he said,

“We do not have a plan to tax households in the way in which Rishi Sunak described, and we are not putting up income tax, or national insurance and VAT.

“The only party that has made uncosted commitments in this campaign is Rishi Sunak’s party.”

Labour has previously said it does not plan to raise personal taxes and its policies are fully costed.

Sunak laughed at over NHS claims

As well as the economy, the pair clashed over the NHS and immigration, with Mr Sunak groaned at and laughed at by the audience on some occasions.

The first rumbling of discontent came after the prime minister was asked how long it would take to fix the “broken” health service.

He pointed to the damage done by the COVID pandemic but said “we are now making progress: waiting lists are coming down”.

The Labour leader countered: “They were 7.2 million, they’re now 7.5 million. He says they are coming down and this is the guy who says he’s good at maths.”

Mr Sunak said NHS waiting times are “coming down from when they were higher”, prompting laughter from the audience. He then blamed industrial action, eliciting groans.

“It’s somebody else’s fault,” Sir Keir said.

In another key moment, both were asked directly whether they would use private healthcare if a family member was on a long waiting list for NHS care – with Mr Sunak saying he would and Sir Keir saying he wouldn’t.

Immigration debate gets heated

There was also a heated debate over immigration.

Mr Sunak offered his strongest suggestion yet that he could be willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the government’s stalled Rwanda deportation plan remains blocked by the courts.

He said: “If I am forced to choose between securing our borders and our country’s security, or a foreign court, I’m going to choose our country’s security every single time.”

However, he said deportation flights will take off to Rwanda “in July, but only if I’m your prime minister”.

“Stick to our plan and illegal migrants will be on those planes – with Labour they will be out on our streets.”

Sir Keir hit back: “The levels of migration are at record highs – 685,000. It’s never been that high, save in the last year or two.

“The prime minister says it’s too high. Who’s in charge? He’s in charge. He’s the most liberal prime minister we’ve ever had on immigration.”

The Labour leader also said Mr Sunak had “completely failed” to meet his pledge to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

On the issue of the ECHR, he said the UK risked becoming a “pariah” state if it left international conventions.

Key debate points at a glance

Faye Brown

Political reporter

@fayebrownSky

On tax & the economy: Rishi Sunak claimed Labour’s plans for the country were not costed and would require tax rises of £2,000. He pointed to the Conservatives bringing inflation down, cutting NI and his pledge to cut taxes for pensioners through the “triple lock plus” as
reasons why people should vote for him.

Sir Keir said Mr Sunak’s £2,000 claim was “absolute garbage” and his plans are fully costed. He pointed out the tax burden has risen to the highest level in 70 years under the Tories and used Mr Sunak’s vast personal wealth to suggest he doesn’t understand the cost of living crisis.

On the NHS: Rishi Sunak was groaned at and laughed at for claiming waiting lists were coming down and blaming industrial action on the backlog.

Sir Keir pointed to Labour’s plans to create 40,000 new appointments while bigging up his credentials as the husband of an NHS worker.

On Education: Rishi Sunak said parents who “work hard” should be allowed to send their children to private schools, in an attack on Labour’s VAT policy.

Sir Keir that one of Labour’s first steps would be to recruit 6,500 teachers to fill gaps, and he “will get rid of the tax break on private schools to pay for it, that’s a tough choice, I do understand that”.

On immigration: Sunak offered his strongest suggestion yet that he could be willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the government’s stalled Rwanda deportation plan remains blocked by the courts, but said flights should be taking off in July.

Sir Keir said the UK risked becoming a “pariah” state if it left international conventions and pointed to his plan to target criminal people smuggling gangs to stop small boat crossings.

On Climate: Sunak defended his decision to water down policies designed to help the UK reach net zero carbon emissions, saying the targets will still be met, it will cost households less, and maintain the UK’s energy security.

Sir Keir said there was a “huge opportunity” in the renewable energy sphere that would see cheaper bills, energy security for the UK, and more jobs. He said he will deliver clean power by 2030, despite scaling back the initial investment he intended to put forward to get there.

Who came out on top?

The pair dished out their usual attack lines throughout the debate – with Mr Sunak accusing Sir Keir of having no plan and the Labour leader going in on the Tories’ 14-year record in government, particularly highlighting the impact of the Liz Truss mini budget.

A break down of the YouGov polling found that Mr Sunak came out on top in the sections about tax and immigration.

But while he also “won” the debate overall, Sir Keir was victorious in the discussions about the cost of living, the NHS, education, and climate change.

However, in bad news for both leaders, the poll found 60% of people thought the debate was frustrating, compared to 17% who found it helpful and 4% who found it authentic.

Opposition parties rounded in on the pair following the debate, with the Lib Dems saying “the country deserves better”.

The SNP said Scotland wasn’t mentioned once and the showdown underlined “why the overwhelming majority of voters want an alternative to the abysmal choice between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer”.

Politics

Bitcoin treads water at $90K as whales eat the Ethereum dip: Finance Redefined

Published

5 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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Bitcoin treads water at K as whales eat the Ethereum dip: Finance Redefined

Cryptocurrency markets saw another week of consolidation following last week’s long-awaited market recovery.

While Bitcoin (BTC) remained above the key $90,000 psychological level, investor sentiment continued to be dominated by “fear,” with a marginal improvement from 20 to 25 within the week, according to CoinMarketCap’s Fear & Greed index.

In the wider crypto space, the Ether (ETH) treasury trade appears to be unwinding, as the monthly acquisitions by Ethereum digital asset treasuries (DATs) fell 81% in the past three months from August’s peak.

Still, the biggest corporate Ether holder, BitMine Immersion Technologies, continued to amass ETH, while other treasury firms carried on with their fundraising efforts for future acquisitions.

*Fear & Greed index, all-time chart. Source: CoinMarketCap*

Investors are also awaiting the key interest rate decision during the US Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting on Wednesday to provide more cues about monetary policy leading into 2026.

Markets are pricing in an 87% chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut, up from 62% a month ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

*Interest rate cut probabilities. Source: CMEgroup.com*

Ethereum treasury trade unwinds 80% as handful of whales dominate buys

The Ethereum treasury trade appears to be unwinding as monthly acquisitions continue to decline since the August high, though the largest players continue to scoop up billions of the Ether supply.

Investments from Ethereum DATs fell 81% in the past three months, from 1.97 million Ether in August to 370,000 ETH in November, according to Bitwise, an asset management firm.

“ETH DAT bear continues,” wrote Max Shennon, senior research associate at Bitwise, in a Tuesday X post.

Despite the slowdown, some companies with stronger financial backgrounds continued to accumulate the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency or raise funds for future purchases.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate Ether holder, accumulated about 679,000 Ether worth $2.13 billion over the past month, completing 62% of its target to accumulate 5% of the ETH supply, according to data from the Strategicethreserve.

BitMine holds an additional $882 million worth of cash according to the data aggregator, which may signal more incoming Ether accumulation.

*Top corporate Ether holders. Source:* *Strategicethreserve.xyz*

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Citadel causes uproar by urging SEC to regulate DeFi tokenized stocks

Market maker Citadel Securities has recommended that the US Securities and Exchange Commission tighten regulations on decentralized finance regarding tokenized stocks, causing backlash from crypto users.

Citadel Securities told the SEC in a letter on Tuesday that DeFi developers, smart-contract coders, and self-custody wallet providers should not be given “broad exemptive relief” for offering trading of tokenized US equities.

It argued that DeFi trading platforms likely fall under the definitions of an “exchange” or “broker-dealer” and should be regulated under securities laws if offering tokenized stocks.

“Granting broad exemptive relief to facilitate the trading of a tokenized share via DeFi protocols would create two separate regulatory regimes for the trading of the same security,” it argued. “This outcome would be the exact opposite of the “technology-neutral” approach taken by the Exchange Act.”

Citadel’s letter, made in response to the SEC looking for feedback on how it should approach regulating tokenized stocks, has drawn considerable backlash from the crypto community and organizations advocating for innovation in the blockchain space.

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Arthur Hayes warns Monad could crash 99%, calls it high-risk “VC coin”

Crypto veteran Arthur Hayes has issued a warning over Monad, saying the recently launched layer-1 blockchain could plunge as much as 99% and end up as another failed experiment driven by venture capital hype rather than real adoption.

Speaking on Altcoin Daily, the former BitMEX chief described the project as “another high FDV, low-float VC coin,” arguing that its token structure alone puts retail traders at risk. FDV stands for Fully Diluted Value, which is the market value of a crypto project if all its tokens were already in circulation.

According to Hayes, projects with a large gap between FDV and circulating supply often experience early price spikes, followed by deep selloffs once insider tokens unlock. “It’s going to be another bear chain,” Hayes said, adding that while every new coin gets an initial pump, that does not mean it will develop a lasting use case.

Hayes said most new layer-1 networks ultimately fail, with only a handful likely to retain long-term relevance. He identified Bitcoin, Ether, Solana (SOL) and Zcash (ZEC) as the small group of protocols he expects to survive the next cycle.

Last year, Monad raised $225 million in funding from venture capital firm Paradigm. The layer-1 blockchain went live on Monday, accompanied by an airdrop of its MON token.

*Monad’s MON token up 40% since launch. Source:* *CoinMarketCap*

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$25 billion crypto lending market now led by “transparent” players: Galaxy

The crypto lending market has become more transparent than ever, led by the likes of Tether, Nexo and Galaxy, and has just hit an aggregate loan book of nearly $25 billion outstanding in the third quarter.

The size of the crypto lending market has increased by more than 200% since the beginning of 2024, according to Galaxy Research. Its latest quarter puts it at its highest since its peak in Q1 2022.

However, it has yet to return to its peak of $37 billion at that time.

The main difference is the number of new centralized finance lending platforms and much more transparency, said Galaxy’s head of research, Alex Thorn.

Thorn said on Sunday that he was proud of the chart and the transparency of its contributors, adding that it was a “big change from prior market cycles.”

*The crypto lending landscape has seen many new platforms in the past three years. Source: Alex Thorn*

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Portal to Bitcoin raises $25 million and launches atomic OTC desk

Bitcoin-native interoperability protocol Portal to Bitcoin has raised $25 million in funding amid the launch of what it describes as an atomic over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk.

According to a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the company raised $25 million in a round led by digital asset lender JTSA Global. The fundraise follows previous investments by Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, Arrington Capital and others.

Alongside the fresh funding, the company rolled out its Atomic OTC desk, promising “instant, trustless cross-chain settlement of large block trades.” The newly deployed service is reminiscent of crosschain atomic swaps offered by THORChain, Chainflip, and more Bitcoin-focused systems such as Liquality and Boltz.

What sets Portal to Bitcoin apart is its focus on the Bitcoin-anchored crosschain OTC market for institutions and whales, along with its tech stack. “Portal provides the infrastructure to make Bitcoin the settlement layer for global asset markets, without bridges, custodians, or wrapped assets,” said Chandra Duggirala, founder and CEO of Portal.

Decentralization — *Portal to Bitcoin team members, from left to right: co-founder and chief technology officer Manoj Duggirala, founder and CEO Chandra Duggirala, and co-founder George Burke. Source: Portal to Bitcoin*

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.

The Canton (CC) token fell 18%, marking the week’s biggest decline in the top 100, followed by the Starknet (STRK) token, down 16% on the weekly chart.

*Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama*

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.