Is changing donation laws for Reform retrospectively unfair or politically justified?

[Gav1961]

I wonder if others have a view on this:

I should start by saying I am no supporter of the Reform Party… not by any measure… but it sometimes we all have a right and indeed a duty to speak up when we see injustice. Even when done to those we might dislike. An old-fashioned notion I know, but a valuable one none the less.

So… The Labour party (temporality constituting the government) , who have received tens of millions of pounds from union member subscriptions over the years… so effectively from one body… have decided that whilst the massive donations to Reform are currently legal, they, the labour government with the approval of all the other parties, will make the receipt of such currently legal gifts, retrospectively illegal.

Mmmm…

Last month I saw that same government protest that the convicted ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, cannot be sent back to Pakistan when he is released from prison… because any law made to do this could not be retrospective…. It just would not be British.

OK I have my disagreements and issues with Reform… but does a legitimate UK political party really deserve to be treated worse than a convicted gang leader of groomers?

Anyone else see that as a bit odd, a bit contradictory, a bit self-serving… unconstitutional and illogical? Come on, don’t be shy… it’s just an opinion.

Funny thing is that whilst the cash would undoubtably have helped reform in its bit to run the UK there is one thing that would be more effective in swelling its ranks…. That is a blatantly unfair and self-serving retrospective law hamstringing their attempts to grow.

For anyone who doubts the unintended effects of grossly and manifestly unfair treatment of a one group over another (regardless of its actual merit)… study internment in N Ireland. The single most effective recruited campaign for any organisation… ever. But then not one had at the time tried to bribe the voting public with £5000 dollars each… 😊

People do not like unfairness. I would go so far as to say that Labour are walking into a trap… So predictable was this reaction. Think about it… maybe these guys never thought their £36m was at risk… or am I now getting a little conspiracy theorist?

What are the strategists thinking? Apart from being unfair, non-democratic and blatantly self-serving… There could be no better way to swell the ranks of Reform. The very thing they want to avoid.

Whining about establishment unfairness is a fundamental part of the Reform playbook. Right now I think a number of their sympathisers are uncomfortable with the idea of being in the pockets of individual billionaires. If they're forced to hand the donations back, the balance shifts back to Reform being the plucky underdogs, being deprived of their rights by a callous and unfair technicality.

They do live here. Delo is one of the youngest billionaires to sign up to give away his wealth. Of course most countries would love an Oxbridge first mathematician who gives away millions. Except it’s to a party that makes Labour jump.

Ah, so you're not talking about foreign nationals? You're including British people who may have been born overseas and British people with one or more immigrant parents? Surely you aren't referring to these people as "foreign"?

As to why those particular people are in Parliament, it will be because their constituents have elected them. That's how our parliamentary democracy works.

The Telegraph is the horse’s mouth?

A person born of immigrant parents is British. Unless you have some Reform-y racist reason, what possible objection do you have to that? And anyone British can stand for parliament, and if they are elected, what business is it of yours?

11% is not heavily

And please explain what your issue is with being born abroad or having an immigrant parent?

It is if the horse is Nigel Farage

Well, if he able to adequately prove that he is resident here, then he will be permitted to donate. Or stand for election or whatever. But it is reasonable to want to ascertain that his relocation is genuine and not merely a temporary one to bypass the legislation.

.... .that beats up.women.
You feel other parties are ok with that?

It's foreign influence. Which this thread is about.

Yes he can, unless more amendments are added.

Bollocks.

The poster I was replying to claimed a little over £1 million was donated to Labour from the unions in 2024 - according to the BBC it was £12 million.

From Ben Delo's article;

Last year, when there was no general election, Labour spent some £3.9m per month and the Tories about £2.3m per month. Reform only managed around £1.8m per month.

I’m announcing that I’m giving £1m per month to Reform UK until the expected 2029 general election, to help them get ready for government. What’s more, to remove the temptation from Labour to use control of Parliament to try to cut that financial lifeline to a competitor, I have front-loaded these donations into a single payment of £36m.

Restricting opposition party funding is literally as anti-democratic as you can get, but that’s the aim of the Government’s Representation of the People Bill.

Unless Labour decides to use the bill to restrict the millions it receives each year in union funding, then functionally it is an attempt at election-rigging. It is so appalling that even the Conservatives, who might benefit if Reform is starved of funds, have called it out. For that, I give Kemi Badenoch great credit.

Being from a minority ethnic background does not make you foreign.

Claiming that being from an ethnic minority background makes people foreign does make you racist.

The doners are British citizens. So it's either all bollocks or none of it is bollocks.

I don't mind reading your hypocrisy though.

But apparently these two British citizens are foreign?

They are British citizens living in the UK.

Although Tice lives part time in the UAE and Farage spends a ;ot of time in the US.

What foreign influences are you talking about when it comes to MP's? Russia, US?

If they can demonstrate that they are resident in the UK, and not merely here on a short term basis to circumvent the legislation, then they will be able to donate as much as they like.

That’s good. Labour seemed to move to caps.

Is there a Russian MP?

Mouldemort
A person born of immigrant parents is British

Not automatically.

Who said they were foreign?

They are British nationals who had, until very recently, chosen to live outside the UK. If they have moved back to the UK and can demonstrate that this is a long term commitment, then it isn't an issue, is it?

There is one in the HoL

But you are talking about foreign MP's so you tell us..

No. But the whole thread is about making it an issue. All you have to do to become tax resident in Britain after living elsewhere is inform HMRC you are changing your tax residency back.

Call me racist as much as you like. It's of no consequence any more.