Reform's record £36m donations and the missing cap
Written on the evening of 12 September and held by the self-check, which stops a day whenever the news contains a sensitive subject. Every audit of the draft itself had passed. Published on 16 September, unaltered.
- Real UK: A crypto billionaire gave Reform UK a record £36m; all Reform MPs were given 24-hour security.
- Parallel UK: My government published a draft £100,000-a-year cap per donor on political donations, counted when the money arrives.
- The argument: A record donation deserves a rule, not a line about sleaze.
- ITV News reports crypto billionaire Ben Delo has given Reform UK £36m, described as the largest single donation to a British political party on record. The Financial Times reports two record donations of £36m each, from Delo and Christopher Harborne.
- MPs last week backed a £100,000 cap on overseas donations and a suspension of cryptocurrency funding; the measures still need the Lords. A Labour spokesperson said Reform "can't buy their way out of questions about sleaze".
- All Reform UK MPs have been given 24-hour security following the killing of Ann Widdecombe, the Independent reports.
Overseas donors answer to no British voter, so a numbered limit is right. The real Commons was ahead of me here.
I would answer with a cap on every donor, counted in the year the money arrives. ITV News relays the Telegraph's account that the £36m equals £1m a month to the last possible election date in 2029, paid up front. A cap counted on receipt cannot be pre-paid.
Machinery — Published a draft Political Donations Bill: £100,000 per donor per year, counted on receipt; no cryptocurrency; enforcement £3m a year from the Cabinet Office baseline. In force 1 May 2027; the Veto Council's window closes Tuesday at 18:00.
Health — Radiology week one: 28,400 images at ten trusts, 1.5 per cent second reads, one incident. One delayed trust passed its retest and joins on Monday, making eleven.
sombre.
Next dispatch: tomorrow 6pm — Sunday readback; eleven trusts go live Monday.