NIGEL Farage has been put on notice that he may have to hand back some of the £72 million in new donations as they could be deemed unlawful, Angela Rayner has suggested.
Reform UK may not be able to keep the cash from two crypto kings under new laws going through Parliament, Labour has signalled.
The party received two donations, each worth £36 million, from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne in recent days boosting their election war chest.
But Shadow Cabinet Minister Angela Rayner insisted the findings of the Rycroft Review published at the end of March would be backdated.
The review says that overseas voters moving to the UK would be stopped from giving more than £100,000 in donations for a year after their arrival.
The two donors are British citizens with Delo moving back to the UK from Hong Kong within the past year.
Read more in Politics
LAM FOR LONDON?
Lammy urged to stand as Labour’s candidate for London Mayor after sacking
DEATH TAX KILLER
Bombshell plans to ABOLISH hated inheritance tax drawn up by Kemi Badenoch
Harborne flew back to the UK over the summer to have his name put on the electoral register in Hampshire.
Rayner refused to comment directly on the two individual donations.
But Ms Rayner told Sunday Morning with Rachel Johnson on Sky News: “The most important thing and the reason why we’ve got a Bill going through Parliament at the moment, is that we need to have secure elections that are for the people and that you can’t buy your way into our democracy.
“And that’s why the Rycroft Review was set up and we’ve already taken action against overseas donations, which will be backdated for when Rycroft published. It will be backdated.”
Most read in The Sun
HORROR ‘ATTACK’
Stranger ‘sets woman alight at fuel pump’ after refusing to hand over money
PARK TRAGEDY
Mystery of unidentified woman found dead in bin bag near Premier League ground
‘ASSAULT’ HORROR
Woman ‘sexually assaulted’ on city-centre train by man – as CCTV released
STOLEN CHILDREN
Baby among 53 children snatched & shipped to Kremlin camps ‘by ex-minister’
“As this Bill goes through Parliament, we’re really clear on overseas donors, and also about those that have recently returned to the UK, that are also within the scope of the Rycroft Review, which was published on the 25th of March.
“And we’re really clear that when that was published, and we’re making sure that no one could go through any loopholes in regards to those circumstances.”
But Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick said the cash will allow the party to be “battle ready” and insisted the donations were legal.
He said: “It enables us to do two things: be battle ready for the general election, whether it comes in a few weeks’ time or indeed two years’ time, and to prepare for government.”
He added: “They’ve asked nothing in return for their donations. We’re not like the Tory Party that hands out knighthoods and peerages to their donors.
“Nigel (Farage) has said this in the last few days: neither of these two individuals, nor anyone who donates to our party, is going to be on some honours list in the years ahead if we’re lucky enough to be in government, and I can assure that.”
He added: “We’re very confident that these two donations are perfectly legal.”