Crypto News: The long and short of it

Hi, I'm Emily Ashton, a UK Government Reporter in London. Here's today's Readout.

Britain's housing policy, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove declared today, requires "long-term thinking and a long-term plan." Few people would disagree.

The UK has a chronic housing shortage and while the government committed in 2019 to build 300,000 new homes a year in England to match demand, it hasn't yet happened.

With a general election looming, Gove headed to King's Cross to insist it was still a top priority. As my colleague Joe Mayes reported from inside the room, Gove wants to simplify the planning process and regenerate brownfield sites to get more houses built.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove Photographer: Lucy North/PA

Yet even as Gove was speaking, Conservative colleagues highlighted the political challenge in bringing that long-term goal to life. "I will do everything I can to stop the government's nonsense plans to impose mass housebuilding on Cambridge," MP Anthony Browne said on Twitter.

It begs the question: how do you convince your party — and the voting public — to put short-term interests aside for the greater good? Britain faces fundamental problems with its public services — housing, the NHS, social care, crime and justice — that require deep thinking and long-term reform. That's a difficult message to sell at election time.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak is looking to row back on environmental policies during the cost-of-living crisis. It's not the right time, some Tory MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg say. The danger, campaigners warn, is it will never be seen as the right time.

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The stories you need to know about this evening

Israel's parliament approved a bill that will reduce judges' ability to overrule government decisions and appointments.
Hungary has drifted closer to a scenario of potentially leaving the European Union, a former central bank governor said.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni could notify the US as soon as this week about her plan to pull Italy out of a controversial investment pact with China.
Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal has offered €300 million for French striker Kylian Mbappe, according to a person familiar.

The House of Commons broke up for summer recess last week, but UK politics is still very much live and kicking. The three main parties are busy analysing by-election results that gave them each a win in different corners of England, hoping to learn lessons ahead of a general election that has to take place by the end of January 2025.

It was the Conservatives' victory in Boris Johnson's old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip that could prompt a rethink of national policy. The Tories effectively turned this into a local referendum on a controversial plan by London's Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan to extend a low-pollution zone that will see drivers of the oldest vehicles pay a daily charge. With many families struggling to pay the bills, that's gone down like a lead balloon among some in the suburbs.

Buoyed by the win — and grasping for a lifeline as national polls put the Tories around 20 points behind Labour — Sunak said today he was ready to ditch green policies if they prove too costly for people.

My colleague Kitty Donaldson reports that while he insists he still wants to negate carbon emissions by 2050, he told journalists: "We're going to do that in a proportionate and pragmatic a way that doesn't unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs in their lives — that's not what I'm interested in and prepared to do."

Rishi Sunak on July 24. Photographer: Ben Birchall /Getty Images

The emerging theme, then, appears to be committing to "long-term" goals — whether it's net zero or housebuilding — but faltering in the short-term as the reality of an election takes over. Labour leader Keir Starmer has made a thing of this, blasting "sticking plaster politics" and promising to fix issues over a long timeframe.

But he, too, has promised to "reflect" on London's emissions policy and is fearful of anything that could put off voters when he is so close to power.

Of course, our political system has always been determined by electoral cycles. But in an era of deep-rooted issues with Britain's basic services, as UK holidaymakers are rescued from wildfire-ravaged Greek islands amid a climate crisis, tackling the long-term could reap rewards at the ballot box if politicians are brave enough.

Pay pressure. UK job vacancies rose for a fifth month, boosting salaries and signaling tightness in the labor market that's likely to fan inflation.

Global EV race. Despite Germany's car makers announcing bold plans over the last several years to shift to electric cars and challenge Tesla, they are only falling further behind, writes Stefan Nicola.

A dire start. The euro-area private-sector economy contracted more than anticipated in July.

Patent infringements. Ocado shares gained after Norwegian robotics company AutoStore Holdings agreed to pay the UK company £200 million to settle a dispute.

€20 billion

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government plans to dole out €20 billion to bolster semiconductor manufacturing in Germany.

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Collage: Getty(4)

Turnover. High borrowing costs. A slump in deals. It's the new normal in investment banking. A slowdown in mergers and acquisitions and the collapse of Credit Suisse have sparked an epic turnover of senior managers across the industry, spanning trading and advisory services.

Read The Big Take.

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