From the Guardian · · 2m
The £72m question Labour keeps ducking
Two crypto billionaires handed Reform UK £72m in a weekend, and now Labour's own side is demanding a cap on domestic donations.
In brief
Two crypto billionaires handed Reform UK £72m in a weekend, and now Labour's own side is demanding a cap on domestic donations. The elections bill caps foreign money but leaves UK-based donors untouched, so the £72m that triggered the row would sail straight through it. Originally reported by the Guardian.
£72m lands in a weekend
Two crypto billionaires, Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, gave Reform UK £36m each. Reform says every penny of it is within the law.
Burnham holds the line
The PM once backed caps on domestic donations. He has declined to put any into the elections bill now heading back to the Lords.
Labour MPs vent on WhatsApp
Backbenchers are angry the government let the bill pass the Commons last week without restricting domestic money, days before the Reform windfall.
Both donors lived abroad
Harborne holds UK and Thai citizenship. Delo recently moved back from Hong Kong. When he returned, and whether Harborne still lives in Thailand, is unclear.
Rayner points to a future bill
The communities secretary suggested the donations could be caught by new rules applying retrospectively to donors based outside the UK.
“This is an issue that has been raised about protecting our democracy from foreign interference”
Not the right vehicle
A No 10 source said ministers won't delay a bill that gives 16-year-olds the vote, but promised the argument isn't finished.
“not the right vehicle but this is not the end of the story”
The union slippery slope
Unions, GMB especially, blocked a domestic cap, fearing a future right-wing government would use the same power to choke union donations to Labour.
The union wall cracks
Unite now backs a cap on individual donors. Unison's Andrea Egan said the movement will fight Farage's billionaire backers every step of the way.
“For individual donors there must be a cap”
A £100,000 ceiling
Stella Creasy's amendment would cap most domestic donations at £100,000 a year. It never reached a vote once ministers promised a taskforce review.
Peers get another shot
Creasy is working with peers to revive the cap in the Lords. Labour's Michael Wills wants the government to name a deadline for its review.
“it offers an unmissable opportunity to say when that review will complete its work”
Rich donors want limits too
John Caudwell, a 2019 Tory donor, and Labour backer Dale Vince both called for a cap. Vince wants publicly funded politics as the end goal.
“Ridiculous sums of money don't level the playing field, they distort it”
Reform says bring it on
The party is "100% confident" the money is safe even under the new rules. Robert Jenrick called it a breakthrough that makes Reform battle ready.
“No one wants the UK to become a country for hire in the way Reform is clearly a party for hire”
The short version
The elections bill caps foreign money but leaves UK-based donors untouched, so the £72m that triggered the row would sail straight through it.
