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Jenrick says he is 'very confident' donations are 'perfectly legal'
Earlier, Jenrick on Sky defended the donations saying he was “very confident” they’re “perfectly legal”.
When pressed on whether Reform would return the donations if they were found to violate new law: “Who knows? I mean, if people try and do something retrospectively, then maybe.”
To recap: In the past 48 hours, Reform UK has received a staggering sum of £72m from two crypto billionaires, the largest single donations in British political history.
Christopher Harborne’s £36m donation, which he announced in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday, matches that given by another cryptocurrency investor Ben Delo on Friday.
Key events
Over on Sky, Conservative Tom Tugendhat was asked if the Tories were “rattled” by the money going into Reform.
He says he “welcomes people supporting political activity” in a democracy- at this point, Sky’s Rachel Johnson cuts in – “even crypto billionaires who live in Thailand?” (referring to Harbourne).
Tugendhat then switches to his second point – the persistent murkiness over where Reform’s funds come from.
He raises the issue of due diligence, noting it’s a legal requirement for each party to rigorously check the sources of their donations and highlights that Reform has faced allegations this past week after a Channel 4 undercover investigation appeared to show Farage’s senior aides attempting to circumvent the rules to accept an otherwise illegal injection of foreign funding.
(Reform denies the allegations but Farage’s chief of staff and head of policy have stepped down and Labour has asked police to investigate possible offences. The Electoral Commission is also considering the allegations.)
Tugendhat goes on to argue that regardless of these donations and huge sums, “British people can’t be bought” and it’s an “illusion” to buy influence in public office.
He then also notes that these tens of millions have come from the crypto industry – noting that it’s the currency commonly used for laundering and to get around sanctions on foreign regimes like Russia and Iran.
Jenrick says he is 'very confident' donations are 'perfectly legal'
Earlier, Jenrick on Sky defended the donations saying he was “very confident” they’re “perfectly legal”.
When pressed on whether Reform would return the donations if they were found to violate new law: “Who knows? I mean, if people try and do something retrospectively, then maybe.”
To recap: In the past 48 hours, Reform UK has received a staggering sum of £72m from two crypto billionaires, the largest single donations in British political history.
Christopher Harborne’s £36m donation, which he announced in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday, matches that given by another cryptocurrency investor Ben Delo on Friday.
Would the new law capping foreign donations then make these latest Reform cheques illegal, if they apply restrospectively? Given both donors resided overseas, presumably at the time of donation.
Rayner says she won’t be drawn on the individual donors in the Reform situation, and she doesn’t know their circumstances- i.e. where they were living at the time of donation- but she lays out what the law would entail, that it would apply from March.
Harbourne is still based in Thailand, while Delo is reported to have moved back to the UK since April.
“With the retrospective action, anyone that’s received donations that doesn’t comply with … what is in legislation is currently going through parliament, would have 60 days to return that money,” says Rayner.
”That is not for those individuals, let me be really clear. I do not understand those individual circumstances, but that their retrospective action will apply from the 25th of March.”
Rayner says parliament is looking into new laws on donation caps that could apply retrospectively
Meanwhile on the BBC, the government’s Angela Rayner says the huge sums show it’s all about “who is funding politics and if there are few individuals who fund power to power… in a democracy that is a concern.”
Parliament is currently looking at new laws to cap foreign donations – Rayner again stresses Labour’s line that this restriction when it comes in should apply restrospectively.
Jenrick says donations 'breakthrough moment' for party
Sky’s just broadcast an interview with Jenrick who describes the bonanza donations as a “breakthrough moment” for Reform “from two patriotic businessmen”.
(A reminder that Harbourne has lived outside of the UK for years and is based in Thailand, and Delo until recently, was living in Hong Kong and was convicted of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act before being pardoned by Trump last year).
Jenrick says the 2 x £36m donations “enables us to be battle ready for the election and to prepare for government.”
He denies that the huge cheques mean that Reform is “in hoc” with the crypto billionaires, and says it wouldn’t buy them peerage or any other formal favours.
Jenrick faces questions over record Reform donations
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s politics live blog in what is a fairly tumultuous period in electoral financing.
To recap: In the past 48 hours, Reform UK has received a staggering sum of £72m from two crypto billionaires, the largest single donations in British political history.
Christopher Harborne’s £36m donation, which he announced in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday, matches that given by another cryptocurrency investor Ben Delo on Friday.
The huge injection into Reform’s coffers obviously help fund the anti-immigration party’s operations leading into the next general election, to be held by 2029. But it has also further muddied the reputation around the party’s finances and who it says it serves. Reform has pledged more crypto-friendly policies i.e. greater adoption of the unregulated currency across the UK if the party were to come into power.
Reform’s economics spokesman Robert Jenrick is on Sky and the BBC this morning to address questions over the massive donations and allegations it has sought to circumvent electoral law to receive foreign donations.
There are also calls now across the political spectrum for a cap on donations from big-moneyed donors in the UK, a restriction that currently only applies to foreign donors.
