UK moves to cap donations after record right-wing crypto haul

MANCHESTER, England (CN) — The House of Lords opened debate Monday on a bill to cap foreign political donations and ban crypto contributions to political parties, days after Reform UK pocketed 72 million pounds ($97 million) from two cryptocurrency billionaires — the largest single donations in British political history.

Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, both British men who have spent years living abroad, each gave 36 million pounds to Reform within two days, according to the Electoral Commission, which tracks political donations.

The pair now share the record for Britain’s largest single donation; the previous record holder, businessman John Sainsbury, gave 10 million pounds to the Conservative Party in 2023.

The Representation of the People Bill, which already cleared the House of Commons, Parliament’s elected lower chamber, would cap donations from British citizens living overseas at 100,000 pounds a year, backdated to March 25, and ban parties from accepting cryptocurrency as a donation outright.

It reached its second reading Monday in the House of Lords, Parliament’s unelected upper chamber, where members debated legislation and flagged concerns.

Sharon Taylor, a Labour minister for local government, described commuting past tradespeople and small-business owners on her way to work and said their votes count the same as those of “millionaires, crypto bros and industry magnates.”