The UK government will examine the role of cryptocurrency donations in politics as part of a wider review of party-financing rules triggered by a bribery case involving a Reform UK politician, Bloomberg reported.
The review will be chaired by former senior civil servant Philip Rycroft and will look at foreign financial interference in British politics, Communities Secretary Steve Reed told the House of Commons on Tuesday. Reed said the review is due to report by the end of March, and its conclusions will feed into elections-and-democracy legislation the government plans to advance next year.
Reed’s announcement follows growing concern about the UK’s exposure to foreign-linked donations and bribery. Nathan Gill, a former Welsh leader of Reform, was sentenced last month to 10½ years in prison after pleading guilty to taking bribes in exchange for making statements favorable to Russia while serving as a Member of the European Parliament, the news outlet said.
“The facts are clear, a British politician took bribes to further the interests of the Russian regime,” Reed said, according to Bloomberg, adding that the case was “a stain on our democracy” and that the UK must act to prevent similar incidents.
The probe will focus on “safeguards against illicit funding streams, including cryptocurrencies” as well as the “checks and balances within political regulation for identifying and mitigating foreign interference,” the news agency said.
Reed said the forthcoming bill will seek to close loopholes that allow shell companies to donate “without first undergoing proper checks,” Bloomberg reported.
The Labour Party is separately seeking to tighten existing donation rules and has been considering a cap on donations, after reports last year that Elon Musk was weighing a £100 million donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Read more at Bloomberg