Nigel Farage says £72m donations from crypto billionaires will help Reform prepare for government

Nigel Farage has said £72million in donations from two crypto billionaires will be used to prepare Reform UK for government.

The Reform UK leader said the huge cash injection gives the party the financial firepower to mount a serious challenge at the next general election.

Crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne have handed Reform a combined £72million over the past 48 hours, dramatically reshaping the landscape of political funding in Britain.

“The money will be used for one purpose only: to make certain we are ready to form a government at the next election,” Mr Farage wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

“Now the British people have a genuine alternative: a properly funded, professionally organised and determined party that will put this country's interests first once more.

The sheer size of the donations has been met with opposition from government MPs.

Many are now pushing to adopt a proposed amendment to cap individual donations at £100,000 annually.

Speaking earlier today, Robert Jenrick insisted that the two £36million donations “are entirely in line with the law” and that the party would not be required to hand them back.

"These two donations are entirely in line with the law as it is and, as far as we know, what it is going to be in the future," he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

The donations have given Reform a major boost after a summer dominated by scrutiny of the party’s finances, as Mr Jenrick said the money will enable Reform UK to be “battle ready” for a general election.

Rayner hints at donations cap after Reform given £72m by crypto-billionaires

The treasury spokesperson denied suggestions by Kuenssberg that part of Reform UK’s agenda is “being very pro cryptocurrency” claiming he wanted to see “proper regulation” of cryptocurrency, which he described as being “a wild west in many respects”.

However, the shadow foreign secretary said the crypto industry “has backers in people who want to launder money”

Tom Tugendhat told Sky News that “the British people can’t be bought” and it was “ an illusion that people can buy their way into public office” .