Crackdown on donations as Farage faces new gift row

Ministers will launch a crackdown on large political donations today, as Nigel Farage faces a possible second investigation, this time into gifts he received from a convicted fraudster before becoming an MP.

- Kiran Stacey

The government will announce a series of measures to make political funding more transparent, including restrictions on donations from foreign-based benefactors. But it is under pressure to go further after the revelation that the Reform UK leader had received a number of benefits from the crypto entrepreneur George Cottrell before the general election.

Those benefits could also become the subject of a new investigation by Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary standards commissioner, who is already looking into a £5m gift to Farage from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The Lib Dems wrote to Greenberg yesterday asking him to open a new investigation.

Announcing the new rules, the communities secretary, Steve Reed, said: "British democracy is not for sale. These tough new rules will shut down dodgy funding, stop foreign money influencing our elections, and keep our democracy strong."

Darren Jones, the prime minister's chief secretary, said: "We're cracking down on those trying to buy - and sell - our democracy, and putting the British people first."

The changes will apply a £100,000 donations cap to anyone who moves to the UK from abroad for a year after their arrival. Officials say this will stop donors from circumventing restrictions on foreign-based donations simply by registering to vote in this country.

They will also bring in checks to assess whether companies making political donations are legitimate by measuring their profits as well as their revenues. This is designed to stop donors registering businesses in the UK in order to qualify under British elections law but funnelling profits abroad.