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The \u00a372m heading towards Reform UK’s coffers from two British billionaires is transforming the debate at Westminster about politics and money.<\/b><\/p>\n
In short, how should political parties be paid for, and by who?<\/p>\n
And, what is a legitimate donation and what isn’t?<\/p>\n
It is worth setting out the law, in broad terms, now and how the government hopes to change it.<\/p>\n
Right now, there is no limit on how much anyone, living in the UK or abroad, can give to a British political party as long as the individual is registered to vote in the UK.<\/p>\n
But the government has been planning a change in the law for months, which would limit donations from Brits abroad to \u00a3100,000 each per year, backdated to 25 March this year. <\/p>\n
But, crucially, the law hasn’t changed yet and some of the key details in that proposed new law – such as what residency requirements would need to be passed to be classified as no longer being abroad – haven’t been decided yet.<\/p>\n
The reason for that date, 25 March, ministers argue, is that is the day a review by the retired civil servant Philip Rycroft was published,, external<\/span><\/a> the first recommendation of which was that there should be “an annual cap on political donations from British voters living abroad”.<\/p>\n