Angela Rayner has set out further detail on how new curbs on overseas political donations would work, saying any foreign-based donor who has given money since 25 March would be restricted to £100,000 a year, with the limit backdated even for those who have since returned to the UK. The clarification follows TUC general secretary Paul Nowak's call for Andy Burnham and ministers to act over £72million in donations to Reform UK from crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, which he described as the "Americafication" of British politics, while insisting union funding of Labour is "the cleanest, most transparent money" and not comparable. Reform has hit back, with deputy leader Richard Tice accusing Labour of "hyperventilating hypocrisy" and insisting the donations are lawful and will never need to be repaid.

Under the Representation of the People Bill, now before the Lords, a "minimum residency period" would stop returning expats sidestepping the cap, and anyone found to have breached the rules would have 60 days to return the money once the Rycroft review's findings become law. Rayner said she could not comment on Reform's "individual circumstances" but was clear that non-taxpayers living abroad should not be able to "buy their way into our democracy". Adding a twist to the union-funding defence, former Labour Cabinet minister Lord Blunkett broke ranks to say he believed domestic donations, including from trade unions, should also be capped to protect the fairness of the system.