"The call comes weeks after Nigel Farage's Reform UK declared it had received 9m from the Thailand-based crypto investor Christopher Harborne, the largest donation made by a living person to a British political party. As well as reducing the voting age to 16, ministers are planning to use the elections bill to reduce loopholes in political finance. Last summer, the government said it would tighten the rules around political donations from shell companies and unincorporated associations"
"and empower the Electoral Commission to issue much bigger fines increasing the maximum from 20,000 to 500,000. The campaigners' letter called on the government to use the bill to ban political donations made in cryptocurrency, after similar action taken by Ireland and Brazil. The Guardian reported this month that ministers were exploring doing so amid growing concerns that cryptocurrency donations endanger the integrity of the electoral system because it is difficult to establish where they come from."
Campaigners urged ministers to legislate a cap on political donations to rebuild voter confidence and protect democracy ahead of an elections bill. Nineteen civil organisations, including the Electoral Reform Society, Transparency International UK, Hope not Hate and the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition, backed the call. The groups highlighted concerns after Reform UK received £9m from Thailand-based crypto investor Christopher Harborne. Ministers plan to reduce the voting age to 16 and to tighten political finance rules by closing shell-company loopholes and increasing fines from £20,000 to £500,000. Campaigners also urged a ban on cryptocurrency donations amid concerns over traceability, and ministers have been exploring such a ban while officials said the Electoral Commission should consider it.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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