Labour Cracks Down on Reform Donations in Bid to Save Democracy
The Labour Party has announced plans to change the law retrospectively to cancel a £72 million donation from crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo to Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage.
Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, stated that the Representation of the People Bill 2026 will be used 'retrospectively' and 'backdated to 25 March', when the law to stop foreign and crypto donations was announced.
The bill aims to increase representation and protect democracy from billionaires buying their way into politics. However, critics argue that Labour is trying to save itself rather than democracy.
Labor's Representation of the People Bill started under the premiership of Sir Keir Starmer and is being continued by Andy Burnham. It has been expanded to include measures to address large sums of money going to Reform from donors based abroad.