Trade unions are pressing Andy Burnham to investigate substantial donations totaling £72 million to the Reform party, while simultaneously defending their own financial support for the Labour party. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak characterized the donations from crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo as evidence of the "super-rich" wielding undue influence.
This development follows a warning from Angela Rayner, the Communities Secretary, that new parliamentary rules aimed at curbing overseas political funding will be applied retroactively. These rules, which are still progressing through Parliament, would limit expats who have donated since the end of March to £100,000 annually, even if they subsequently returned to the UK.
Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, has criticized Labour's stance, labeling it "hyperventilating hypocrisy." The Reform party maintains that the donations are fully compliant with existing regulations and will not need to be returned.
Nowak, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today program, expressed concern about the "Americafication" of British politics, stating that the prospect of the wealthy "effectively buying and selling British politics" is unsettling. He differentiated union funding from the Reform donations, emphasizing that trade unions are "open democratic organisations" representing working people and that their financial contributions are transparent and legitimate.
Under the Representation of the People Bill, set for debate in the House of Lords, a minimum residency requirement could prevent individuals who have lived abroad from exceeding the annual donation limit for a year after returning to Britain. Rayner indicated that the legislation would apply to donations received since March 25, the date a government review on foreign influence in politics was published. She stated that donors not meeting the new criteria would have 60 days to return the funds.
Richard Tice refuted these claims, asserting that the donations to Reform were made legally. He accused Labour of attempting to create an "an unlevel playing field" out of fear of Reform's growing support and argued that the donations are intended to "level the playing field" for a relatively new party seeking to build its campaign infrastructure and policy development capacity. Tice also stated that the donors would have no influence on Reform's policy platform, asserting that no requests or demands have been made by them.
It is understood that both Harborne, who previously resided in Hong Kong, and Delo, who was based in Thailand, returned to Britain before the March cut-off date.