Reform 'already spending' £72m super-donations' despite risk they are blocked - as party warns of tit-for-tat ban on Labour's union cash if it wins next election

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 04:38 EDT, 15 September 2026 | Updated: 04:52 EDT, 15 September 2026 Reform has started spending its £72million windfall from its two crypto-billionaire donors, despite fears that they may have to hand it back.Nigel Farage's party has already started ploughing the cash from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne into hiring more staff and setting up Reform TV online.But Labour has suggested it could amend the law to outlaw the huge sums handed over – they have both spent years abroad, where they would have been caught by Labour's crackdown on foreign donors.Party leader Mr Farage said their donations were '100 per cent compliant with the law today' and a source told the Mail they were similarly confident 'they won’t ever have to be handed back'.It came as party chairman Lee Anderson suggested a Reform government would introduce legislation to stop the unions funding Labour should Andy Burnham take away their money.'Let's not forget, it's up to the British public who runs this country, not Angela Rayner, not the donors, not the unions. It's up to the British public,' he told GB News.'And when we do win the next general election, if they want to play silly games, then we can play them games as well and we will introduce legislation that will stop the unions funding the Labour Party. Nigel Farage's party has already started ploughing the cash from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne into hiring more staff and setting up Reform TV online But party leader Mr Farage said their donations were '100 per cent compliant with the law today'.'You know what? Then game over for the Labour Party. They need to think very carefully.'Ministers have already moved to introduce a £100,000 cap on the amount of money that can be given to political parties by British citizens based overseas, which would also apply for the first 12 months after any expats return to the UK.The changes would be backdated to this March, raising questions about whether Reform can keep the twin £36million donations from Ben Delo, who was based in Hong Kong, and Christopher Harborne, who was based in Thailand.But amid reports both men have already returned to the country, ministers are looking at how to toughen residency requirements governing political donations.In a parliamentary debate as part of the second reading of the Government's Representation of the People Bill in the Lords on Monday, minister Baroness Taylor said: 'In addition to introducing a robust regime that ensures donors contributing above the £100,000 annual cap must demonstrate a genuine and ongoing connection to the United Kingdom, we are considering how we will strengthen the residency requirements including ensuring the length of time spent in the UK aligns with broader government policy.'Government sources said an enhanced test would mean donors also have to demonstrate an ongoing presence in the UK, details of which will be set out shortly.Areas that have existing residency requirements include immigration law, welfare and tax. For example, HMRC declares people resident if they have lived in the UK for 183 days a year.Earlier on Monday, Mr Farage acknowledged Reform UK's record-breaking windfall may fall foul of Government efforts to clamp down on foreign donors, and hit out against the move to apply the new law retrospectively.Mr Farage told the BBC on Monday he believed the two donations were 'compliant' with the law as it stands, but suggested they would not be acceptable as a result of a law change in the Representation of the People Bill, which has now entered committee stage.Asked whether Mr Delo and Mr Harborne were UK residents as of March 25, as this would have an impact on their donations, he said: 'I'm not going to go into their particular details.'All I'm going to say is, with the law of the land as it stands, they are both compliant.'Now, there is talk, and Angela Rayner was talking about this yesterday, there is talk of them retrospectively declaring donations illegally.'Well, that simply cannot be.'