Richard Tice accuses Labour of ‘trying to change rules retrospectively’ after Reform receive £72m in donations – UK politics live

Labour MPs and unions are pressuring the government to legislate for a stricter cap on political party donationsGood morning. This afternoon peers will debate the second reading of the representation of the people bill. If you hear a loud bang echo around the Lords chamber, it will be the sound of stable door being shut after the horse has bolted.At the end of 2024 the Sunday Times carried a report saying that Elon Musk was considering donating $100m to Reform UK. It made a good headline, but the idea seemed so preposterous that no one at Westminster really took it very seriously. Musk is not a British citizen, and so it would have been illegal for him to have given the money directly anyway; he would have had to have donated via UK companies.We’re completely confident that [the Delo and Harborne] donations comply with not only the existing rules, but they also comply with the rules currently going through parliament, albeit with that retrospective element …Unless [Labour] literally try and change the rules again as it’s going through the House of Lords, in which case it would have to go back to the Commons. I mean, anything’s possible with this sort of dictatorship currently ruining the country. You know, we’re the victims of a coup.These donations are made in accordance with the rules and the regulations, and you’ve now got a hyperventilating hypocrisy from the socialists ruining this country, who are trying to change the rules retrospectively, which is it’s not the fair way, it’s not the British way, and I think most people will say ‘does that just mean that Labour are terrified of the progress of Reform and they’re trying to create an unlevel playing field? Continue reading...