Overview
- On Thursday, July 9, Labour MPs led by Liam Byrne said they had gathered signatures to table amendments to the Representation of the People Bill that would turn the government’s temporary freeze on crypto political donations into a permanent legal ban.
- The government imposed a moratorium on crypto donations on March 25 after the Rycroft Review warned that digital-asset transfers can hide the identity of donors and be used to channel foreign money into UK politics.
- The push has been sharpened by media reports of large private gifts to Reform UK from crypto-linked figures, including Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, which prompted banking suspicious-activity reports and parliamentary scrutiny of donor provenance.
- Labour’s package goes beyond crypto and would cut the national campaign spending cap, limit how much money a new party can hold at launch, and require pre-acceptance checks where donations may pose foreign-interference risks.
- Ministers have signalled they will table their own amendments before MPs return on July 14, including a proposed £100,000 cap on donations from returning expatriates, setting up a Commons contest over a statutory ban versus continued regulatory pause.