Jenrick says he is ‘very confident’ donations are ‘perfectly legal’<\/p>\n
Earlier, Jenrick on Sky defended the donations saying he was \u201cvery confident\u201d they\u2019re \u201cperfectly legal\u201d.<\/p>\n
When pressed on whether Reform would return the donations if they were found to violate new law: \u201cWho knows? I mean, if people try and do something retrospectively, then maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
To recap: In the past 48 hours, Reform UK has received a staggering sum of \u00a372m from two crypto billionaires, the largest single donations in British political history. <\/p>\n
Christopher Harborne\u2019s \u00a336m donation, which he announced in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday, matches that given by another cryptocurrency investor Ben Delo on Friday.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.23 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Just wanted to highlight this statement too from Jenrick, insisting to both the BBC and Sky this morning that wealthy donors wouldn\u2019t get formal favours, if Reform were to come into power.<\/p>\n He said \u201cthere are all these people in the House of Lords who are Tory donors. 24 out of the last 25 Tory Party treasurers sit in the House of Lords.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReform is different. We are not going to give peerages, or knighthoods, to people who go around giving us donations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n A reminder that Jenrick was a Tory MP for 12 years (and the former shadow justice secretary) before defecting to Reform in January of this year.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.21 EDT<\/p>\n More from Jenrick on the BBC asserting that the donations from the crypto billionaires are legal.<\/p>\n As I sketched out earlier, the Labour government has a package of laws going through parliament right now<\/a> aimed at stopping foreign money from influencing UK elections.<\/p>\n The foreign donor cap is currently set at \u00a3100,000. There are no restrictions on how much citizens living in the UK can give parties. But if a Brit returning to the UK wishes to give more, the new law states that they need to be living in the country for a full calendar year before they can do so.<\/p>\n The issue with the laws perhaps applying retrospectively (i.e. from March) is that this could rule out these \u00a336m a-piece donations from Harbourne and Dalo, as both of these crypto-billionaires have been living outside of the UK, and Reform may have to return the money.<\/p>\n Jenrick says in the case of Harbourne, he won\u2019t go into his personal circumstances but, \u201ceven if that were the case, the donation that he\u2019s made would still be a legal one in compliance with the law. So we see no reason why you\u2019d have to return these.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Over on Sky, Conservative Tom Tugendhat was asked if the Tories were \u201crattled\u201d by the money going into Reform.<\/p>\n He says he \u201cwelcomes people supporting political activity\u201d in a democracy- at this point, Sky\u2019s Rachel Johnson cuts in \u2013 \u201ceven crypto billionaires who live in Thailand?\u201d (referring to Harbourne).<\/p>\n Tugendhat then switches to his second point \u2013 the persistent murkiness over where Reform\u2019s funds come from.<\/p>\n He raises the issue of due diligence, noting it\u2019s a legal requirement for each party to rigorously check the sources of their donations and highlights that Reform has faced allegations this past week after a Channel 4 undercover investigation appeared to show Farage\u2019s senior aides attempting to circumvent the rules to accept an otherwise illegal injection of foreign funding. <\/p>\n (Reform denies the allegations but Farage\u2019s chief of staff and head of policy have stepped down and Labour has asked police to investigate possible offences. The Electoral Commission is also considering the allegations.)<\/p>\n Tugendhat goes on to argue that regardless of these donations and huge sums, \u201cBritish people can\u2019t be bought\u201d and it\u2019s an \u201cillusion\u201d to buy influence in public office.<\/p>\n He then also notes that these tens of millions have come from the crypto industry \u2013 noting that it\u2019s the currency commonly used for laundering and to get around sanctions on foreign regimes like Russia and Iran.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Jenrick says he is ‘very confident’ donations are ‘perfectly legal’<\/p>\n Earlier, Jenrick on Sky defended the donations saying he was \u201cvery confident\u201d they\u2019re \u201cperfectly legal\u201d.<\/p>\n When pressed on whether Reform would return the donations if they were found to violate new law: \u201cWho knows? I mean, if people try and do something retrospectively, then maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n To recap: In the past 48 hours, Reform UK has received a staggering sum of \u00a372m from two crypto billionaires, the largest single donations in British political history. <\/p>\n Christopher Harborne\u2019s \u00a336m donation, which he announced in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday, matches that given by another cryptocurrency investor Ben Delo on Friday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.23 EDT<\/p>\n Would the new law capping foreign donations then make these latest Reform cheques illegal, if they apply restrospectively? Given both donors resided overseas, presumably at the time of donation.<\/p>\n Rayner says she won\u2019t be drawn on the individual donors in the Reform situation, and she doesn\u2019t know their circumstances- i.e. where they were living at the time of donation- but she lays out what the law would entail, that it would apply from March.<\/p>\n Harbourne is still based in Thailand, while Delo is reported to have moved back to the UK since April.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the retrospective action, anyone that\u2019s received donations that doesn\u2019t comply with \u2026 what is in legislation is currently going through parliament, would have 60 days to return that money,\u201d says Rayner.<\/p>\n \u201dThat is not for those individuals, let me be really clear. I do not understand those individual circumstances, but that their retrospective action will apply from the 25th of March.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rayner says parliament is looking into new laws on donation caps that could apply retrospectively<\/p>\n Meanwhile on the BBC, the government\u2019s Angela Rayner says the huge sums show it\u2019s all about \u201cwho is funding politics and if there are few individuals who fund power to power\u2026 in a democracy that is a concern.\u201d<\/p>\n Parliament is currently looking at new laws to cap foreign donations \u2013 Rayner again stresses Labour\u2019s line that this restriction when it comes in should apply restrospectively.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Jenrick says donations ‘breakthrough moment’ for party<\/p>\n Sky\u2019s just broadcast an interview with Jenrick who describes the bonanza donations as a \u201cbreakthrough moment\u201d for Reform \u201cfrom two patriotic businessmen\u201d.<\/p>\n (A reminder that Harbourne has lived outside of the UK for years and is based in Thailand, and Delo until recently, was living in Hong Kong and was convicted of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act before being pardoned by Trump last year).<\/p>\n Jenrick says the 2 x \u00a336m donations \u201cenables us to be battle ready for the election and to prepare for government.\u201d<\/p>\n He denies that the huge cheques mean that Reform is \u201cin hoc\u201d with the crypto billionaires, and says it wouldn\u2019t buy them peerage or any other formal favours.<\/p>\n