{"id":664892,"date":"2026-06-29T20:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/664892\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T20:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:06:26","slug":"thai-based-crypto-investor-funding-reform-unlikely-to-avoid-cap-on-overseas-donations-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/664892\/","title":{"rendered":"Thai-based crypto investor funding Reform unlikely to avoid cap on overseas donations | Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Harborne, the Thailand-based crypto investor who has given millions of pounds to Reform UK<\/a>, would be unlikely to get around a planned cap on overseas political donations even if he has registered to vote in the UK, it is understood.<\/p>\n

Harborne, who also gave Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, \u00a35m as a \u201cgift\u201d, has registered to vote in Hampshire, the Times reported<\/a>, with a spokesperson for the billionaire quoted in the paper saying that he had decided to become a \u201cregistered voter in the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n

The move could be viewed as an attempt to help Harborne get around planned changes to the political donations system, which could put a \u00a3100,000 annual cap on Britons based abroad, as well as other measures such as blocking donations made in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

The Times reported Harborne\u2019s decision to register to vote as a possible way for him to continue giving large sums to Reform, citing an interview in April<\/a> in which he said the government should not be able to stop him donating as he chose, adding: \u201cWhere there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the planned changes to donations, among 15 recommendations in an independent report<\/a> in March by Sir Philip Rycroft, a former senior civil servant, set out the idea that a cap of between \u00a3100,000 and \u00a3300,000 a year should apply to \u201cBritish voters living abroad\u201d.<\/p>\n

While the definition of this is yet to be decided by ministers, Rycroft\u2019s report set out that the basis is expected to be whether or not someone is based in the UK, not just if they are registered to vote. Decisions on individuals would be left<\/a> to election officials at local councils, who decide whether a voter is \u201cnormally resident\u201d in the UK for the purposes of their address on the electoral register.<\/p>\n

Harborne, who has donated \u00a315m to Reform in the past 12 months, as well as gifting Farage \u00a35m shortly before the 2024 elections, has been based in Thailand for more than five years, where he uses a Thai name, Chakrit Sakunkrit.<\/p>\n

If he wanted to get around the overseas donations cap, he may have to return to live in the UK, which would make him liable for UK tax on earnings from a fortune estimated to be<\/a> more than \u00a318bn.<\/p>\n

In his report, Rycroft specifically linked the idea of taxation to the fairness or otherwise of political donations, writing: \u201cThough many individuals\u2019 decisions to move abroad are not financially motivated, it remains the case that wealthy individuals who have chosen to live abroad in order to have their wealth taxed abroad are nevertheless currently entitled to make unlimited donations to UK political parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite choosing to minimise their contribution to the UK exchequer, these individuals have the opportunity to make potentially gamechanging donations into British politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the review was published, Steve Reed, the communities secretary, said the legislation would be applied retrospectively from March subject to parliamentary approval, as the move was urgently needed to protect UK democracy.<\/p>\n

Harborne\u2019s donations hit public prominence after the Guardian revealed in April<\/a> that Farage received\u00a35m shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election.<\/p>\n

Farage said the money was a gift, and thus did not need to be registered under rules requiring MPs to declare any potential interests in the 12 months before their election. He is facing<\/a> a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog.<\/p>\n

The Reform leader initially said the money was intended for personal security costs, and then that it was a reward for Brexit. After avoiding questions<\/a> on the subject for some weeks, last week he grumpily rebuffed<\/a> an interviewer\u2019s questions on what he had spent the money on, saying it was \u201cnot any of your business\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s an unconditional gift. I can spend it on Ferraris if I want. That\u2019d be entirely up to me,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI can do what I want with it. I can put it on the horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harborne\u2019s representatives were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christopher Harborne, the Thailand-based crypto investor who has given millions of pounds to Reform UK, would be unlikely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-664892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}