Row over Reform’s mega donations has mileage in it yet – BBC News
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The £72m heading towards Reform UK’s coffers from two British billionaires is transforming the debate at Westminster about politics and money.
By Chris Mason
Political editor
Published 14 minutes ago
In short, how should political parties be paid for, and by who? And, what is a legitimate donation and what isn’t?
It is worth setting out the law, in broad terms, now and how the government hopes to change it.
Right now: There is no limit on how much anyone, living in the UK or abroad, can give to a British political party as long as the individual is registered to vote in the UK.
Government proposal: Limit donations from Brits abroad to £100,000 each per year, backdated to 25 March this year.
But, crucially, the law hasn’t changed yet.
The reason for that date, 25 March, ministers argue, is that is the day:
- a review by the retired civil servant Philip Rycroft was published, the first recommendation of which was that there should be "an annual cap on political donations from British voters living abroad".
- the then-cabinet minister Steve Reed told the Commons that cap would be £100,000 per year and apply retrospectively.
Two big questions arise:
Is it proportionate to limit what British folk abroad can donate to UK political parties, given they are arguably less invested in the country than people living here?
And is it unfair, even morally questionable, to pass a law, but then backdate when its impact begins?
Fast forward to the last few days and along come these colossal donations…
Nigel Farage’s view: Both donations are 100% compliant with the law as it stands now. He was equivocal about whether they would be legal under the proposed new law.
"Retrospectively declaring donations illegal – that simply cannot be."
That is a political, perhaps moral argument, but not a legal one…
