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The House of Lords will debate changes to the laws on political donations later on Monday after Reform UK received \u00a372m from two billionaires in 24 hours.<\/b><\/p>\n
Calls for restrictions are growing after huge donations from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, who are both British and have spent time living overseas.<\/p>\n
The government is seeking to change the law on donations to UK political parties from British expats, including a \u00a3100,000 cap backdated to 25 March. <\/p>\n
The leader of one of Labour’s biggest funders, Unite the Union, is among those backing limits on individual donations. In response, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said the proposed change shows Labour was “terrified” of the party.<\/p>\n
“We believe that we’ve done everything in complete accordance with the laws,” he told BBC Breakfast.<\/p>\n
He accused Labour of trying to “retrospectively introduce legislation in order to significantly disadvantage another political party”.<\/p>\n
Tice said the party’s donations would enable it to “get on a level playing field” with other parties, likened it to Labour receiving donations from trade unions, and that “competition is a good thing”.<\/p>\n
But Paul Nowak, the leader of Britain’s trade unionists in his role as TUC general secretary, rejected comparisons between donations from wealthy individuals and unions.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton on Monday, Nowak said: “Let no-one tell you there is any similarity between care workers chipping in a few quid a year through their union and a party bought and paid for by billionaires.”<\/p>\n
He added a “proper conversation about how we clean up our politics” is required.<\/p>\n
The sheer scale of Reform’s record-breaking donation windfall has prompted an urgent debate across the parties.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the bill that would introduce a \u00a3100,000 cap on donations from British voters living abroad returns to the House of Lords.<\/p>\n
The rules were proposed in a review by former civil servant Philip Rycroft aimed at countering foreign influence in UK politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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