However, the Reform UK leader hit out against the move to retrospectively apply a new law to the twin £36 million gifts from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, which were announced on Saturday.
asserted
which → hit → Saturday
Reform has insisted the donations are in line both with current rules and planned restrictions on money from donors based overseas, which are set to be considered in the Lords on Monday.
asserted
which → insist → Monday
Those changes restrict donations from expats to £100,000 which would also apply for the first 12 months after they return to the UK – changes which would be backdated to March 25 this year.
asserted
which → restrict → March
Mr Delo has been based in Hong Kong but said in April he would return to the UK to avoid restrictions on overseas donors, and Mr Harborne was based in Thailand but in June he was reported to have registered to vote in Hampshire.
asserted
he → base → Hampshire
Mr Farage told the BBC on Monday he believed the two donations were “compliant” with the law as it stands, but suggested they would not be acceptable as a result of a law change in the Representation of the People Bill, due to be debated by peers.
“Both these donations are 100% compliant with the law today, of that there is no question whatsoever,” the Reform UK leader told the BBC.
uncertain
leader → tell → BBC
He was then asked whether Mr Delo and Mr Harborne were UK residents as of March 25, as this would have an impact on their donations.
asserted
this → ask → donations
Mr Farage replied: “I’m not going to go into their particular details.
asserted
I → reply → details
All I’m going to say is, with the law of the land as it stands, they are both compliant.
asserted
they → go → land
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice earlier told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme both donors had “complied with the rules and regulations, both existing and proposed and will continue to do so”, a position which appeared different from that set out by Mr Farage.
asserted
which → tell → Farage
Mr Tice said the donations would help to “level the playing field” of donations received by other political parties, and claimed Mr Delo and Mr Harborne would have “absolutely zero” influence on Reform’s policy platform.
asserted
Delo → say → platform
He compared the situation to Labour’s funding from trade unions who “make demands about employment rights regulations, public sector pay and they get those demands satisfied”.
asserted
demands → compare → regulations
Proposals for a cap on all donations are likely to feature heavily in the House of Lords, which will debate the Government’s Representation of the People Bill on Monday.
asserted
which → feature → Monday
The Bill already contains the measures limiting donations from overseas electors to £100,000 a year, but attempts by MPs to impose a general cap failed after the Government promised to task officials with investigating how a measure would work.
asserted
measure → contain → officials
On Sunday, Communities Secretary Angela Rayner suggested a cap was still on the table, telling the BBC she wanted to stop people “being able to overpower and buy their way into democracy”.
uncertain
people → suggest → democracy
Ms Rayner on Monday told the TUC congress that Reform was not on the side of working people.
asserted
Reform → tell → people
“They voted against the Employment Rights Act and, if elected, they’d repeal it in a heartbeat, along with the Equalities Act,” she said.
asserted
she → vote → Act
She later added: “This is about people’s lives, our members’ lives, and if you needed proof of whose side they’re really on, they have given it to us this weekend.
asserted
they → add → us
“Nigel Farage’s sugar daddies made their money in crypto, but there’s nothing cryptic about their motives.
asserted
daddies → make → motives
They know full well that a Reform government will act in their interest, not the public interest.”
asserted
government → know → interest
The Liberal Democrats are likely to push for a cap, having called for “emergency legislation” to impose one and saying the donations exposed “a dangerous flaw in our democratic system”.
asserted
donations → push → system
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, has suggested donations from trade unions should be exempt from any cap, saying they were “not the same as two crypto millionaires waking up and giving £72 million”.
uncertain
millionaires → suggest → million
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, similarly told TUC congress there was no similarity “between care workers chipping in a few quid a year through their union and a party bought and paid for by billionaires”.
asserted
workers → tell → billionaires
The Aporia
