Angela Rayner has been accused of hypocrisy after attacking two crypto billionaires' record £36 million donations each to Reform UK as an attempt by "fascist oligarchs" to buy British democracy, while defending the tens of millions Labour receives from trade unions. The Communities Secretary's remarks, made at the TUC conference in Brighton, coincided with confirmation from Downing Street that the Government plans to retrospectively change donation laws, potentially forcing Reform to return the money, and is considering caps on future donations. Reform figures reacted furiously, framing the move as a partisan attempt to hobble a rising rival, while unions themselves are pushing back against any cap that might curb their influence over Labour.

Donors Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, British citizens who have spent much of their careers abroad, made the largest single donations to a UK party in history. New legislation would cap overseas donors at £100,000 a year, backdated to 25 March, with returning donors facing a one-year wait before exceeding the cap. Reform's Nigel Farage called this "communist", while deputy leader Richard Tice and Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick accused Labour of "hyperventilating hypocrisy" and threatened legal action up to the Supreme Court or European Court of Human Rights. Labour has received around £150 million from unions since 2010, which union leaders argue should be exempt from any cap as it stems from small worker levies rather than individual mega-donors.