Donations from two crypto-billionaires to Reform UK worth £72m represent a “crisis for our democracy”, Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Paul Nowak has warned, as the government vowed to “seriously address” spending limits on political donations.
The donations from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, disclosed over the weekend, together amount to three-quarters of the money spent at the last general election by all parties combined.
The revelations also sparked backlash from Labour peer Lord David Blunkett, who urged the government to impose a cap on political donations, including from trade unions, and branded Reform UK’s donations a “complete distortion of democracy”.
Reform has said it will use the money to fund its preparations for office, and that the donors want “nothing” in return.
But campaigners have said the £72 million gifts demonstrate the need for a cap on political donations, and Spotlight on Corruption said the situation “creates risks that the game will be rigged in favour of those with the most cash”.
Proposals for a cap are likely to feature heavily in the House of Lords, which will debate the government’s Representation of the People Bill on Monday.
The Bill already contains measures limiting donations from overseas electors to £100,000 a year, but attempts by MPs to impose a general cap failed after the government promised to task officials with investigating how a measure would work.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the government has “been clear that the Bill going through parliament isn't the limit of our ambition for electoral reform”, adding: “It strengthens safeguards against foreign influence and we will continue bringing forward further reforms to strengthen public confidence in our democracy.”
The spokesperson continued: “Free and fair elections are the foundations of our democracy.... Everyone should be able to trust that politica;l decisions are made in the interests of UK voters, not people trying to buy influence from overseas.
“The first secretary of state and the communities secretary have written to the Electoral Commission to ask them to review spending limits, which we believe are too high."
It came as schools minister Georgia Gould said the government is “really worried about the the big money that that's coming into politics” and the extent to which it is “shaping politics”.
“It's something I think that that needs to be seriously looked at and addressed”, Ms Gould told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Mr Nowak warned the government not to “allow our political system to be captured by corporate interests”, adding: “Make no mistake, this is a crisis for our democracy.”
He continued: “Let no one tell you there is any similarity between care workers chipping in a few quid a year through their union and a party bought and paid for by billionaires.
“So, we need a proper conversation about how we clean up our politics that doesn’t push workers to the margins, but does stop the super-rich corrupting our politics.”
Meanwhile, Lord Blunkett told Times Radio: “Obviously, we've been talking about overseas donations. I think there should be a cap on donations internally as well for domestic reasons.
“And I think we should reach an agreement that respects that both business, trade unions, and wealthy individuals, as well as the poor devils who sustain the Labour Party over the many years I've been in it, which is giving £20 here and £50 there.”
But Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, has suggested donations from trade unions should be exempt from any cap, saying we’re “not the same as two crypto millionaires waking up and giving £72 million”.
Asked about Reform’s latest donations, Ms Gould said: “We are really worried about the the big money that that's coming into politics and the extent to which big money and sometimes money from overseas is shaping politics, rather than the ordinary voters when we knock on doors and have those conversations.”
She added: “Angela Rayner and Lou Haigh, senior members of the government, have also written to the Electoral Commission to to set out our concerns about the extent of of money in politics, and to ask them to look really carefully at spending limits, not just in elections, but more broadly, because it's something I think that that needs to be seriously looked at and addressed.”
On Sunday, Ms Rayner suggested a cap was still on the table, telling the BBC she wanted to stop people “being able to overpower and buy their way into democracy”.
Meanwhile, questions remain over whether Reform will be able to keep all of the £72 million as the two donors could be covered by the cap on overseas donors, which will be backdated to March 25. They also apply to donations made in the first year that someone moves back to the UK.
Mr Delo has been based in Hong Kong but said in April he would return to the UK to avoid restrictions on overseas donors, and Mr Harborne is based in Thailand.
Robert Jenrick, the party’s economic spokesman, said on Sunday the donations were “entirely in line with the law as it is, and as far as we know, the law as it’s going to be in the future”.
And Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice accused Labour of “hyperventilating hypocrisy” over the donations.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “These donations are made in accordance with the rules and the regulations, and you’ve now got a hyperventilating hypocrisy from the socialists ruining this country, who are trying to change the rules retrospectively, which is it’s not the fair way, it’s not the British way, and I think most people will say ‘does that just mean that Labour are terrified of the progress of Reform and they’re trying to create an unlevel playing field?’”
He also insisted the donors would have “absolutely zero” influence on Reform’s policy platform.
“They haven’t made any asks, they haven’t made demands and nothing would be given in return, we’ve made that crystal clear,” he said.
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