Second crypto billionaire donates record $49m to far-right Reform UK

The two donations increase the total sum of money pledged to Reform since Friday to $97m.

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage, flanked by Deputy Leader Richard Tice, left, and Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf at the party's annual conference [File: Oli Scarff/AFP]

A second British billionaire has made a record donation of almost $49m to the far-right Reform UK party , matching the amount pledged by another businessman the day before.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph British newspaper on Saturday, donor Christopher Harborne said the $48.7m (£36m) donation was a “philanthropic gift” to the country, adding that he felt “inspired” to match the contribution made by fellow billionaire Ben Delo 24 hours earlier.

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Sixty-three-year-old Harborne is a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor and Delo, 42, is the co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange.

Both donations bring the total sum of money pledged to Reform since Friday to $97m.

They coincide with a flurry of questions surrounding the party’s finances, with London’s Metropolitan Police confirming earlier this week the launch of a criminal investigation into whether Reform accepted illegal foreign donations.

Reform’s leader Nigel Farage celebrated the contributions in a post on X.

“You know what Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne want? Nothing,” Farage said.

“Just a government that will fix Britain. And that’s what Reform UK will deliver,” he added.

The leader of the right-wing Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, criticised Reform, accusing Farage and his colleagues of lacking integrity.

“You can buy staff and advertising, but you can’t buy judgement or integrity,” Badenoch posted on X.

“Sometimes a bigger cheque just means you make more of the same mistakes. The Conservatives are up for the fight.”

Reform has emerged as a major political force in the UK. However, the latest polling data suggests that the party has lost some voters since left-leaning Andy Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister and Labour Party leader.

Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Camille Nedelec said both of Reform’s latest donors believe they are making British politics fairer.

“One of the reasons that Ben Delo gave for this huge record-breaking donation was to level the political playing field,” Nedelec said.

“That’s certainly a sentiment echoed by fellow billionaire Christopher Harborne, who compared Reform UK to a startup in need of a boost, because unlike the mainstream political parties, it doesn’t benefit from this inbuilt infrastructure of financial support and recurring donations.

“They certainly see this as a way of making British politics fairer. If we zoom out, Reform historically has had very few donations compared to the mainstream political parties,” she added.

Reform is the successor to Farage’s Brexit Party, which changed its name to Reform in 2021. Farage, who played a significant role in the Brexit movement, has long portrayed himself as an anti-establishment figure and has experienced a surge in popularity as voters grow increasingly disillusioned with the Conservatives and Labour. The two parties have historically dominated British politics, but a dramatic decline in living standards in recent years has fuelled demand for alternatives.

这两笔捐款使自上周五以来承诺捐赠给 Reform 的资金总额增加到 9700 万美元。

英国改革党领袖奈杰尔·法拉奇（左）与副领袖理查德·蒂斯和影子内政大臣齐亚·优素福在党年会上合影。[图片：Oli Scarff/AFP]

第二位英国亿万富翁向极右翼的英国改革党捐赠了近 4900 万美元，创下历史新高，与前一天另一位商人承诺的捐款金额相同。

捐赠者克里斯托弗·哈伯恩周六在英国《每日电讯报》上撰文称，这笔 4870 万美元（3600 万英镑）的捐款是献给国家的“慈善礼物”，他还补充说，他感到“受到鼓舞”，决定效仿另一位亿万富翁本·德洛在 24 小时前所做的捐赠。

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奈杰尔·法拉奇否认英国改革组织接受非法资金时遭到嘲讽（共3条记录，此为第2条）

Reform UK 的三项举措之一（共三项）称英国已经崩溃。伯明翰则讲述了另一个故事。

现年 63 岁的哈伯恩是一位居住在泰国的加密货币投资者，而 42 岁的德洛是 BitMEX 加密货币交易所的联合创始人。

这两笔捐款使自上周五以来承诺捐赠给 Reform 的资金总额达到 9700 万美元。

与此同时，围绕该党财务状况的一系列质疑也随之而来。本周早些时候，伦敦警察厅证实，已启动一项刑事调查，以查明改革党是否接受了非法的外国捐款。

Reform 的领导人奈杰尔·法拉奇在 X 上发帖赞扬了这些贡献。

“你知道本·德洛和克里斯托弗·哈伯恩想要什么吗？他们什么也不想要。”法拉奇说道。

“我们只需要一个能够拯救英国的政府。而这正是英国改革党将要实现的，”他补充道。

右翼保守党领袖凯米·巴德诺克批评了改革党，指责法拉奇及其同僚缺乏诚信。

“你可以花钱买员工和广告，但你买不到判断力或正直，”巴德诺克在 X 上发帖说。

“有时候，更大的支票反而意味着你会犯更多同样的错误。保守党已经做好战斗准备。”

改革党已成为英国一股重要的政治力量。然而，最新的民调数据显示，自从左倾的安迪·伯纳姆接替基尔·斯塔默担任首相和工党领袖以来，该党已经流失了一些选民。

半岛电视台驻伦敦记者卡米尔·内德莱克报道称，改革党的两位最新捐助者都认为，他们正在让英国政治变得更加公平。

内德莱克说：“本·德洛给出的这笔破纪录巨额捐款的理由之一是为了创造一个公平的政治竞争环境。”

“另一位亿万富翁克里斯托弗·哈伯恩也表达了类似的观点，他将英国改革党比作一家需要扶持的初创公司，因为与主流政党不同，它没有受益于这种内在的财政支持和定期捐款的基础设施。

她补充说：“他们当然认为这是让英国政治更加公平的一种方式。如果我们从更宏观的角度来看，与主流政党相比，改革党历来获得的捐款非常少。”

改革党是法拉奇领导的脱欧党的继承者，后者于2021年更名为改革党。法拉奇在脱欧运动中扮演了重要角色，长期以来一直将自己塑造成反建制派人物，随着选民对保守党和工党日益失望，他的支持率也随之飙升。这两个政党历来主导英国政坛，但近年来生活水平的急剧下降促使人们寻求其他选择。