Reform UK Plans Trade Union to Circumvent Foreign Donation Ban

Reform UK is reportedly planning to establish a new trade union to continue accepting foreign donations, even if the Labour party enacts a ban. Arron Banks, a senior aide to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, suggested on Saturday night that the party could create a union representing workers in the IT, AI, and cryptocurrency industries.

This proposed union, provisionally named the Allied Computer & Crypto Workers Union (ACCAW), would be certified in the UK and thus comply with any new legislation. The move comes in response to potential new residency requirements that Labour has pledged to introduce, which would retroactively invalidate recent large donations from overseas.

Last weekend, Reform UK received approximately £72 million in donations from cryptocurrency billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, who had previously been based abroad. Labour's planned measures aim to prevent such donations by imposing stricter residency rules.

Alternatively, Reform UK is considering a strategy dubbed 'Red Wave,' which would involve mobilizing Reform supporters to join existing trade unions and attempt a takeover of their leadership. Banks stated that internal polling indicates significant support for Reform among current trade union members.

He further claimed that the ACCAW would be the first union to politically support its members' views, thereby using Labour's own proposed policies against them. The 'Red Wave' campaign, inspired by a similar strategy used to influence the Conservative Party's stance on Brexit, aims to replace what Banks described as