Crypto News: Between Rochdale and a hard place

Parliamentary democracy is a privilege, an historic achievement and arguably Britain's gift to the world – a hard-won opportunity for people in even the most neglected parts of a country to elect a representative who'll fight for their interests and hopefully improve their economic and social wellbeing.

Unless, that is, you're in Rochdale, where today's by-election features a bizarre list of candidates and has largely centred around a conflict more than 2,000 miles away, over which voters in the northwest of England have pretty much zero influence.

To recap, the options on the ballot paper include:

Labour's former candidate, Azhar Ali, who was disowned over antisemitic remarks he was reported to have made last year;
George Galloway, the far-Left agitator who described the war in Ukraine as a "Nato crazed suicide-mission against Russia";
a former Labour MP who stood down in 2017 after sending explicit messages to a teenager and now represents Nigel Farage's Reform party;
a former Green party candidate who was also dropped by his party following comments about Palestine.

Should we pity the voters of Rochdale, or recall the words of 18th century philosopher Joseph de Maistre, who said we get the politicians we deserve?

Either way, it's a rather sorry state of affairs. Rochdale has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country – above 40% – according to a charity that campaigns on the issue, and could do with some of the levelling-up that the north was promised at the last general election.

Galloway has been the front-runner in the betting markets but I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Ali has a decent chance. He still has the word Labour beside his name, as his demotion came too late in the day to change it. And he'll be at the top of ballot papers due to alphabetical order – a fact that has been proven, believe it or not, to affect voters' decisions.

George Galloway Photographer: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

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The stories you need to know about this evening

Ukraine fears Russia could break through its defences by the summer.
The US and UK discuss Russian security risk of back-to-back elections.
Jeremy Hunt considers extending the windfall tax on oil and gas.
Rising rents offset the impact of interest rates on retail landlords.
Clare Lombardelli is named Bank of England deputy governor.

Photographer: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Another day, another bid for a London-listed company from an overseas rival. This time it was GXO Logistics, an American business that has offered over three quarters of a billion pounds for warehouse operator Wincanton, which counts Primark and Ikea among its customers. Wincanton was already subject to a bid from a French shipping company, so the battle is on.

The takeover tussle comes amid other high-profile potential deals surrounding Currys and Direct Line, while last month a group of plush London hotels was sold for £800 million to US private equity firm Starwood Capital.

My colleague Dinesh Nair tells me UK mergers and acquisitions are up 88% so far this year, compared with a year earlier. While flattered by a dearth of activity this time 12 months ago, the figure is still a sign of renewed appetite to pick up bargains in London's relatively low-priced market.

$1.2 billion

The amount of money a British hedge fund trader has pleaded guilty to helping swindle from Denmark.

Can you make better decisions as chancellor than Jeremy Hunt?

Illustration: Jack Taylor

Your party is behind in the opinion polls and the prime minister wants you to deliver a vote-winning package to turn things around. But beware: if you go too far you risk the wrath of financial markets and a repeat of the turmoil of the 2022 "mini-budget" by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.

Can you cut taxes and give your party a pre-election boost? Or will your budget fall apart?

Play The Budget Game.

Please send thoughts, tips and feedback to readout@bloomberg.net. You can follow Julian on X.

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