Reform UK is preparing to challenge any government attempt to block £72 million in donations from two billionaire cryptocurrency backers, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne. Each donor contributed £36 million to the party, which seeks to enhance its electoral prospects before the next general election.

The government is moving to tighten rules on overseas political donations with legislation that would ban contributions exceeding £100,000 from British citizens residing abroad. The proposed law is retroactive, covering donations made since March 25. However, ministers are exploring amendments to introduce an “enhanced residency test” requiring donors to demonstrate continuous UK residence prior to making contributions. This move aims to curtail Reform’s acceptance of funds from Delo, recently returned from Hong Kong, and Harborne, a British-Thai citizen.

Reform UK maintains that the donations comply with existing laws and the government’s pending regulatory changes. The party is preparing a legal defence and is ready to pursue the matter in court, raising the prospect of protracted litigation over the status of the donations.

Separately, trade unions expressed caution about supporting limits on individual political donations, citing concerns this could disproportionately affect the Conservative Party and Reform UK while exempting union contributions to Labour. At the Trades Union Congress conference, union leaders warned against the "Americanisation" of UK politics, highlighting the risks of unfettered spending fueled by significant crypto and corporate funds.

Unions have donated £32.8 million to Labour since 2021, accounting for over a quarter of the party’s total funding during this period. Much of this financial support was concentrated ahead of the general election, where Labour’s manifesto promised robust new employment rights. Key legislation enacted in December 2024 now guarantees workers immediate access to sick pay and parental leave and shortens the eligibility window for unfair dismissal claims, though not as extensively as initially proposed.

Further worker protections, including bans on “fire and rehire” practices and tighter regulations on zero-hour contracts, are slated to take effect in January. Critics argue these measures risk imposing excessive burdens on employers, potentially raising costs and impeding economic growth.

Since Labour assumed power in July 2024, additional reforms have bolstered trade union rights. These include scrapping Conservative-era laws mandating minimum service levels during strikes in critical sectors such as health, transport, and education. The law now also automatically enrolls new union members into political fund contributions, extends strike mandates from six to twelve months, and reduces the notice period for industrial action from 14 to 10 days.

Despite these advances, relations between unions and the Labour government have become strained under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Disagreements have emerged over the government’s failure to fully ban zero-hour contracts and provide workers with a legal “right to disconnect.” Discontent has deepened with the impact of halted new oil and gas licenses and spending cuts affecting energy workers. Unite, one of the largest unions, has threatened to disaffiliate from Labour and reduce its funding by 40 percent following criticism from Starmer of a lengthy bin workers’ strike in Birmingham.