Angela Rayner’s blast at ‘fascist oligarchs’: Hypocrisy row as she attacks Reform donors… but defends union millions
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.
- Rayner attacks Reform's £72m crypto donor windfall as "fascist oligarch" money
- Government to retrospectively cap and possibly claw back overseas donations
- Reform accuses Labour of hypocrisy over its own £150m union funding
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Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, two British-born entrepreneurs who made their fortunes largely abroad in cryptocurrency and other ventures, each gave a record £36 million to Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage. Under current rules, UK citizens can donate freely regardless of where they live or earn their money, but ministers are now looking at closing that route by capping what overseas-based donors can give and applying the change retrospectively. Angela Rayner, a senior Labour minister, criticised the donations at a trade union conference, prompting questions about whether Labour applies the same standard to its own funding.
Political parties in Britain rely heavily on large donations, and Labour has historically drawn much of its money from trade unions, which represent workers and pool small levies from members into political funds. Since 2010 these union contributions to Labour have totalled around £150 million, and union leaders argue this money is different in kind from a single wealthy individual's gift because it comes from many small contributions rather than one big cheque. Reform figures reject that distinction and see the proposed donation cap as a move against them specifically, given the timing so soon after their record-breaking donations.
This matters because political funding rules shape which parties can compete effectively, and changes to those rules while a rival party is rising in popularity raise questions about fairness in the system. Any new cap, and particularly a retrospective one, could also face legal challenges, adding a constitutional dimension to what is otherwise a dispute over party finance.