From the Guardian · · 1m 30s
Farage hints Reform's £72m may not survive new law
Asked twice if Reform's £72m crypto donations were legal, Farage answered only for the law as it stands today.
In brief
Asked twice if Reform's £72m crypto donations were legal, Farage answered only for the law as it stands today. Farage will only say the £72m is legal under today's law, which is a quiet admission that a retrospective cap could catch it. Originally reported by the Guardian.
A very careful word
Nigel Farage hinted that £72m in donations to Reform UK might not be legal under the elections bill going through parliament. The hint was in one word: today.
“Both these donations are 100% compliant with the law today.”
Who wrote the cheques
Crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne have each pledged £36m to Reform UK. The new cap would limit Britons living abroad, or recent arrivals, to £100,000 a year.
The date that matters
BBC political editor Chris Mason asked whether Delo and Harborne were UK resident on 25 March, the cut-off after which the retrospective rules bite for new arrivals. Farage refused to say.
“I'm not going to go into their particular details.”
The threat back
Farage warned that making the cap retrospective would trigger retaliation. Reform or the Conservatives would move to block trade union money, and he said that would break the system.
“If you do that, you have collapsed the whole political system.”
Not just talk
Farage called the retrospective cap "talk". The bill has already cleared the Commons, and MPs debated these exact amendments on Wednesday 2 September.
Reform's own story slips
Days earlier, Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick said the donations fit the law now and as far as anyone knew, the law to come. Farage would only vouch for today.
“entirely in line with the law as it is”
What it means
Farage will only say the £72m is legal under today's law, which is a quiet admission that a retrospective cap could catch it.
