Connect with us

Published

on

It was billed as a “big moment” for the Starmer administration and, arriving at Labour’s International Investment Summit, it was clear how seriously the government was taking it

The venue was the spectacular 15th century Guildhall in the heart of the City of London, where 200 leading executives gathered with the UK’s prime minister, cabinet, first ministers and mayors to talk about investment in the UK.

Politics live: Ex-Google boss tells PM what’s blocking investment

Adjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury in Netflix’s wildly successful Bridgerton, was the day’s host, with the one-day summit to be capped off by a glittering reception in St Paul’s Cathedral hosted by King Charles, a three Michelin star meal and a performance by Sir Elton John.

Sir Keir Starmer depicted this summit as a key moment in reviving Britain’s global standing in the world as he promised investors he would “do everything in power to galvanise growth”.

He promised investors an end to “the culture of chop and change” with “mission-led mindset that thinks in years”, a new industrial strategy, and pledged to “rip up the bureaucracy that blocks investment” to make sure Britain’s regulators are geared for growth.

“We will make sure that every regulator in this country… takes growth as seriously as this room does,” he said.

More on Sir Keir Starmer

After a difficult first 100 days beset by infighting in the prime minister’s Downing Street and rows over freebies, the Starmer team wanted to make day 101 of this Labour government a moment to reset and get back to the business of the the PM’s first mission – economic growth.

And while Sir Keir didn’t make any specific reference to his first 100 days in his speech to investors, there was a nod to the frustration I’m told he had been feeling in recent weeks, as he sought to inject some momentum into his new government.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Eric Schmidt speaks with Sir Keir Starmer at summit in Central London

He said: “We know – just as every leader knows, that those early weeks and months are precious,

“And no matter how many people advise you to ignore it, you must run towards the fire to put it out, not let it spread further. So we will fix our public services. We will stabilise our economy and we will do it quickly.”

Ripping up bureaucracy to create “shock and awe” investment.

It is not necessarily what you’d expect to hear from a government. Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, who joined Keir Starmer in conversation after the PM’s speech, told the audience of business executives he was “shocked when I heard Labour was in favour of growth,” before going on to say there was “plenty of money that’s going to come into the country” if the government could tackle regulation.

But he also warned the prime minister he would not be able to achieve his goal of clean energy in 2030 without dealing with regulation.

No 10 insiders tell me that the task in the coming months is to “rewire” each regulator – digital, water, energy, competition – for the next decade, with one figure telling me “cutting red tape is about making sure the UK regime doesn’t look too severe, especially relative to our size and influence on global markets”.

One Whitehall official offers up an example of the Competition and Markets Authority which investigated a tie-up between Amazon and an AI company, Anthropic, despite the latter having no business in the UK, which only served to make the UK look anti-tech (the investigation has since been dropped).

For Treasury insiders, the £60bn of investment into new shovel-ready projects announced alongside the investment summit is a significant boon after a difficult few weeks.

👉 Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈

“We’ve beaten expectations,” says one government figure, pointedly remarking that the Conservative government’s investment summit last year raised £28bn.

“Politics is like a see-saw. When you’re down, you can’t do anything right, but when you’re up, you can’t do anything wrong. This was also the conception. To have a summit in the first 100 days of the government where we were banging the drum beat for Britain.”

Read More:
Chancellor ‘wouldn’t have any problems’ getting on P&O ferry
Employer national insurance could rise in budget, minister suggests

There will be questions over how Labour can square off the growth plan with Sir Keir’s raft of new workers’ rights – something that the PM tackled head-on in this speech when he told the audience that “workers with more security in work, higher wages, is a better growth model for this country”.

There are also questions about whether the big growth sale made to 200 chief executives, representing an astonishing £40trn of assets, will jar when the budget comes around on 30 October.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted it will be a growth budget, but there are growing expectations Labour will raise billions of pounds in business taxes by including employer pension contributions in the national insurance system.

The chancellor could raise £18bn a year by the end of 2030 if she levies a flat 13.8% rate on pension contributions, according to research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

EMBARGOED TO 0001 THURSDAY OCTOBER 10 File photo dated 08/07/24 of Chancellor Rachel Reeves giving a speech at the Treasury in London. The Chancellor is being urged to deliver a funding boost of at least �16 billion to the NHS in this year's budget in a move the SNP says would see an extra �1.6 billion come to Scotland. Issue date: Thursday October 10, 2024.
Image:
Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Pic: PA

One Treasury figure said it wasn’t true that investors were “trapped in a cycle of only caring about a budget. They want a government with a sense of stability and purpose. That’s about tax and spend, but it’s also: regulations and barriers matter, planning reform matters, stable government and a big majority, which is what Labour has, matters.”

This Investment summit, long in the making, has taken on new significance for a Starmer government in search of a fresh start after a difficult first 100 days.

Ministers will arrive at St Paul’s this evening feeling that they, at last, have something to celebrate.

The next big test will be the budget later this month, but the much bigger task is to turn the promises made on the stage into a framework that unlocks billions more than the down-payment from business promised today.

Continue Reading

Politics

‘My lawyers are ready’ for questions about corruption claims, ex-minister tells Sky News

Published

on

By

'My lawyers are ready' for questions about corruption claims, ex-minister tells Sky News

Tulip Siddiq has told Sky News her “lawyers are ready” to handle any formal questions about allegations she is involved in corruption in Bangladesh.

Asked whether she regrets apparent links with the Bangladeshi Awami League political party, Ms Siddiq said “why don’t you look at my legal letter and see if I have any questions to answer… [the Bangladeshi authorities] have not once contacted me and I’m waiting to hear from them”.

The London MP resigned as a Treasury minister in January after being named in several corruption inquiries in Bangladesh.

In her first public comments since leaving government, Ms Siddiq said “there’s been allegations for months on end and no one has contacted me”.

Last month, the interim leader of Bangladesh told Sky News the MP had “wealth left behind” in the country “and should be made responsible”.

Lawyers acting for Ms Siddiq wrote to the Bangladeshi Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) several weeks ago saying the allegations were “false and vexatious”.

The letter said the ACC must put questions to Ms Siddiq “by no later than 25 March 2025” or “we shall presume that there are no legitimate questions to answer”.

More on Bangladesh

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Staff from the NCA visited Bangladesh as part of initial work to support the interim government in the country.

In a post online today, the former minister said the deadline had expired and the authorities had not replied.

Sky News has approached the Bangladeshi government for comment.

The allegations against Ms Siddiq are focused on links to her aunt Sheikh Hasina – who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh for 20 years.

Ms Hasina was forced to flee the country in August following weeks of deadly protests.

She is accused of becoming an autocrat, with politically-motivated arrests, extra-judicial killings and other abuses allegedly happening on her watch. Hasina claims it’s all a political witch hunt.

Electrocuted on their genitals and mouths sewn up: Inside Bangladesh’s ‘death squad’ jails

Ms Siddiq was found to have lived in several London properties that had links back to the Awami League political party that her aunt still leads.

She referred herself to the prime minister’s standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus who said he had “not identified evidence of improprieties” but added it was “regrettable” Ms Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of the ties to her aunt.

Ms Siddiq said continuing in her role would be “a distraction” for the government but insisted she had done nothing wrong.

Continue Reading

Politics

Former New York governor advised OKX over $505M federal probe: Report

Published

on

By

Former New York governor advised OKX over 5M federal probe: Report

Former New York governor advised OKX over 5M federal probe: Report

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX reportedly hired former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to advise it over the federal probe that resulted in the firm pleading guilty to several violations and agreeing to pay $505 million in fines and penalties.

Cuomo, a New York-registered attorney, advised OKX on legal issues stemming from the probe sometime after August 2021 when he resigned as New York overnor, Bloomberg reported on April 2, citing people familiar with the matter.

“He spoke with company executives regularly and counseled them on how to respond to the criminal investigation,” Bloomberg said.

The Seychelles-based firm pled guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in violation of US Anti-Money Laundering laws on Feb. 24 and agreed to pay $84 million worth of penalties while forfeiting $421 million worth of fees earned from mostly institutional clients.

The breaches occurred from 2018 to 2024 despite OKX having an official policy preventing US persons from transacting on its crypto exchange since 2017, the Department of Justice noted at the time.

A spokesperson for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, told Bloomberg that Cuomo has been providing private legal services representing individuals and corporations on a variety of matters since resigning as New York governor.

“He has not represented clients before a New York city or state agency and routinely recommends former colleagues for positions,”  Azzopardi added.

OKX reportedly wasn’t willing to comment on its relationships with outside firms.

Cuomo also influenced OKX to make executive appointments: Bloomberg

Cuomo, who is now running for mayor of New York City, also advised OKX to appoint his friend US Attorney Linda Lacewell to OKX’s board of directors, Bloomberg said.

Lacewell, a former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, was added to the board in 2024 and was named OKX’s new chief legal officer on April 1, according to a recent company statement.

Former New York governor advised OKX over $505M federal probe: Report

Source: Linda Lacewell

Related: New York bill aims to protect crypto investors from memecoin rug pulls

After the investigation concluded, OKX said it would seek out a compliance consultant to remedy the issues stemming from the federal probe and bolster its regulatory compliance program.

“Our vision is to make OKX the gold standard of global compliance at scale across different markets and their respective regulatory bodies,” OKX CEO Star Xu said in a Feb. 24 X post.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Continue Reading

Politics

Trump imposes 10% tariff on all countries, reciprocal levies on trading partners

Published

on

By

Trump imposes 10% tariff on all countries, reciprocal levies on trading partners

Trump imposes 10% tariff on all countries, reciprocal levies on trading partners

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.

The reciprocal levies on will be approximately half of what trading partners charge for US imports, Trump said. For example, China currently has a tariff of 67% on US imports, so US reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods will be 34%. Trump also announced a standard 25% tariff on all automobile imports.

Trump told the media that tariffs would return the country to economic prosperity seen in previous centuries:

“From 1789 to 1913, we were a tariff-backed nation. The United States was proportionately the wealthiest it has ever been. So wealthy, in fact, that in the 1880s, they established a commission to decide what they were going to do with the vast sums of money they were collecting.”

“Then, in 1913, for reasons unknown to mankind, they established the income tax so that citizens, rather than foreign countries, would start paying,” Trump said.

Economy, US Government, United States, Donald Trump

Full breakdown of reciprocal tariffs by country. Source: Cointelegraph

Trump presented the tariffs through the lens of economic protectionism and hinted at returning to the economic policies of the 19th century by using them to replace the income tax.

Related: Bitcoin rally to $88.5K obliterates bears as spot volumes soar — Will a tariff war stop the party?

Trump proposes eliminating federal income tax and replacing it with tariff revenue

Trump proposed the idea of abolishing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and funding the federal government exclusively through trade tariffs while still on the campaign trail in October 2024.

According to accounting automation company Dancing Numbers, Trump’s plan could save each American taxpayer $134,809-$325,561 in taxes throughout their lives.

Economy, US Government, United States, Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump addresses the media about reciprocal trade tariffs at the April 2 press event. Source: Fox 4 Dallas

The higher range of the tax savings estimate will only occur if other wage-based taxes are eliminated at the state and municipal levels.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who assumed office in February, also voiced support for replacing the IRS with the “External Revenue Service.”

Lutnick said that the US government cannot balance a budget yet consistently demands more from its citizens every year. Tariffs will also protect American workers and strengthen the US economy, he said.

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle

Continue Reading

Trending