Crypto Billionaires Pump £72m into Nigel Farage's Reform UK Party

Reform UK Party has received its second £36 million donation from a cryptocurrency billionaire in just two days. Thai-based businessman Christopher Harborne matched Ben Delo's record gift of £36 million, boosting the party's funds to £72m. This comes after a summer dominated by scrutiny of Reform's finances, including the launch of a criminal investigation into allegations it breached rules on political donations.

Harborne wrote in The Daily Telegraph that the donation was 'a philanthropic gift to our country' and intended to help Reform prepare for government. He said the UK needs a 'profitable and dynamic economy' to address the three 'existential threats' of nuclear war, AI, and climate change.

Harborne has already given £9 million to the party last August and retains his position as Reform's largest donor. A separate £5 million gift from him to Nigel Farage is also at the centre of an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog after the Reform leader failed to declare it in his register of interests.

MPs backed measures including a cap on overseas donations at £100,000 and a suspension of funding through cryptocurrency, but the draft legislation still needs to be passed by the House of Lords to become law. Delo had intended to give Reform £1 million a month up until the next election, but was donating the money in a lump sum in case the Government introduced a cap on all political donations.