Nigel Farage threatens to block Labour's trade union millions if he becomes PM

Nigel Farage has threatened to block trade union funding for Labour if he becomes Prime Minister as a bitter row over political donations escalates.

The Reform UK leader issued the warning as ministers consider changes to donation rules that could affect two £36million gifts made to his party by cryptocurrency billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.

Mr Farage said any attempt by Labour to clamp down on Reform's wealthy donors could be met with restrictions on the millions flowing from trade unions to Labour.

Writing in The Telegraph, he said: “If anyone is giving money to do political bidding, it’s the trade unions.

“So I would just warn the Labour Party here and now: If you try and ban our donors, we in government would certainly ban funding from the trade unions.

“I don’t want to go down that route. But it is something we would be prepared to do.”

The intervention comes as ministers seek to introduce a £100,000 annual cap on political donations from British citizens living overseas.

The proposed restriction, contained in the Representation of the People Bill currently being debated in the House of Lords, would be backdated to March 25, 2026.

Mr Delo and Mr Harborne, who are both British nationals, lived abroad until recently.

Ministers are understood to be considering an “enhanced residency test” which could determine whether the pair's donations are permitted under the new regime.

It remains unclear whether either had returned to Britain before the March 25 cut-off.

A senior Reform UK insider has told GB News that "more" cash injections are on the way.

The funding row intensified on Monday when Housing Secretary Angela Rayner launched a blistering attack on Reform's wealthy backers at the Trade Union Congress.

She said: "Nigel Farage's sugar daddies made their money in crypto, but there's nothing cryptic about their motives.

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"Now, when these Reform donors say they want nothing, they mean it: no workers' rights, no renters' rights, no social protections, no safety net, no regulation, nothing to stand in their way."

Ms Rayner added: "How dare they try to compare money from a couple of crypto billionaires to union members' subscriptions – the most highly regulated political funding we can have.

"It couldn't be more different from a couple of offshore billionaires trying to buy our democracy."

Labour's 11 affiliated trade unions are meanwhile pushing for donations from individual donors to be treated differently from funds raised through their members.

Union leaders are expected to issue a joint declaration on Tuesday opposing attempts to treat the two forms of political funding in the same way, according to The Telegraph.

Labour has received almost £43million from trade unions since Sir Keir Starmer became party leader in 2020.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told delegates on Monday: “Let no one tell you there is any similarity – any similarity – between care workers chipping in a few quid a year through their union and a party bought and paid for by billionaires.

“We need a proper conversation about how we clean up our politics that doesn’t push workers to the margins – but does stop the super-rich corrupting our politics.”

Mr Farage has argued that unions fund Labour in the expectation of securing favourable policies, while accusing past Conservative donors of handing over money in pursuit of "knighthoods and peerages".

He insisted Reform donors would receive neither peerages nor government contracts in return for their financial backing if the party wins the next general election.

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