Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

Reform UK recently received a donation of £9 million from the former Conservative donor Christopher Harborne, an international Thai-British figure who is a leading cryptocurrency investor, who also holds interests in defence and aviation. The donation was record-breaking, serving as the largest ever donation to a political party from a living donor, beaten overall only be the £10 million Lord Sainsbury left to the Conservatives in his will in 2023.

This figure puts the funding of Reform far above its rivals, the Tories and Labour, who received £4.5 million and £1.9 million respectively, in the third quarter of the year, the quarter in which the donation was given (with it specifically occurring in August of this year, but only being revealed by the Electoral Commission now).

Now, Nigel Farage, leader of Reform, has argued that this donation was a no-strings gift designed just to get a party he favours into power, specifically promising: “Hand on heart, I have not promised him a single thing in return for his donation.”

This is obviously a lie; Nigel Farage is running and promoting a platform that is highly supportive of cryptocurrency, the main interest of Christopher Harborne, even to the extent that they accept donations in untraceable cryptocurrency itself, though this donation was made in cash instead. But this is a clear sign of the collusion between Reform and its super rich donors.

And this is not the only case of this, Reform as a party is incredibly reliant on such super-rich donors, with roughly 75% of its donations coming from just three figures: Christopher Harborne, Jeremy Hosking, and Richard Tice. With Harborne himself equating for over two-thirds of the party’s total funding, as per findings from Democracy for Sale.

The donation has led to the leader of the Green party, Zack Polanski, advocating for the fair policy that political donations in the UK should be capped as “Democracy should never be for sale. Every party should compete on ideas, not the size of their donor spreadsheet”, a fair, just, and democratic statement that should be taken to heart by policy makers who actually want to protect our society and politics from the demagogic fascists that have already taken the USA.

But there is another issue to this donation, and that is the fact that Christopher Harborne, despite his status as a British citizen, operates as an international businessman, and is not subject to British tax laws. Yet, he is able to influence our politics, despite being a foreign political element, using foreign money to buy our politics.

Harborne also has noted ties to Russia, as he is a backer to the cryptocurrency Tether, something that the National Crime Agency has found was used to help Russia in fighting its war in Ukraine, and whilst no explicit backing has been found, the simple fact that someone able to influence our politics may be linked in such a way is deeply concerning. Harborne’s stake in Tether has also been tied in its profits to Rumble, a video platform that is notably pro-Russian and has been found by the US Department of Justice to be hosting a Kremlin-backed influence operation.

Talking of crypto, it poses its own issue in this regard, especially since Reform UK readily allows and encourages donations in the form of digital currencies, because cryptocurrencies serve as a form of currency that is far harder to track and regulate, they increase the ability for shady backers to influence our politics, especially in the political time periods outside of General Elections, since in the UK the political spending of parties is only recorded and regulated during a general election. 

Harborne is not the only international donor supporting the Reform Party; in fact, the Observer has determined in its independent analysis that over 66% of all money given to Reform has come from people who either fully reside in foreign nations or who have significant foreign assets and interests in them. Showing clearly again just how captured Reform UK is by foreign money and influence, a state of affairs that they are clearly open and happy to reside in, considering Farage’s own clear ties to foreign influences, notably those that are Russian and pro-Putin, as well as among the American far-right.

There are many problems in the UK regarding political spending, many of which have been covered here, and these are issues and concerns that are critical to the threats that our democracy is facing. Therefore, it is clear that change is needed in many areas in this regard, such as banning the use of untraceable cryptocurrencies, prohibiting the use of foreign currencies, and instituting a donor cap that limits the ability of the ultra-wealthy to influence political parties and elections.