Key events
Jenrick says donations ‘breakthrough moment’ for party’ that ‘enables us to be battle ready’
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 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).
More significantly, Jenrick says the ۲ x £۳۶m 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 ۴۸ hours, Reform UK has received a staggering sum of £۷۲m from two crypto billionaires, the largest single donations in British political history.
Christopher Harborne’s £۳۶m 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 ۲۰۲۹. 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.
