Reform’s Robert Jenrick ‘very confident’ £72m donations are ‘perfectly legal’ – UK politics live
Party’s economic spokesperson says donations are a ‘breakthrough moment’ as Labour’s Angela Rayner warns of possible retrospective actionReform UK’s £72m donations may be caught by
By The Guardian
Reform UK’s economics spokesman Robert Jenrick has said the party believes £72m in donations from two cryptocurrency billionaires is “entirely in line with the law”. The money came from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, with each donating £36m over the past two days.
Jenrick told the BBC he did not expect Reform to have to return the money. He said the party’s view was that the donations were legal now and would remain so under the law as it stands.
He also said one of the donors, Ben Delo, had returned to the UK in part so he could comply with changes to the law. Jenrick suggested the government could try to tighten donation rules further, but said Reform believed the contributions were still lawful.
The donations have been described as the largest ever made to a British political party. Jenrick said the donors were “not buying anything” and were simply backing Reform’s agenda.
The exchange came as Angela Rayner raised the prospect of possible retrospective action over the donations.