Paul Nowak calls Reform UK a party for sale over the donations
Paul NowakGeneral secretary of the Trades Union Congress, giving his keynote address to the TUC Congress in Brighton
In his keynote address to the TUC Congress, Nowak said the two donations showed that Reform UK and Nigel Farage were for sale, called them a crisis for democracy, and said the political system must not be captured by corporate interests.
“The evidence is clear: Reform UK is a party for sale. Nigel Farage is a politician for sale. And given half the chance, they’d sell our country down the river. Make no mistake, this is a crisis for our democracy. We cannot allow our political system to be captured by corporate interests.”
Original text
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Reform UK accepts record 72 million pounds from two crypto billionaires as critics call for a donations cap
Reform UK accepted two donations of 36 million pounds each in September 2026. Ben Delo, a co-founder of the crypto trading platform BitMEX, announced his gift on September 11, and Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor, matched it the next day. According to the BBC, they are the largest sums a UK political party has received since donations had to be declared in 2001. Party leader Nigel Farage called the money an investment in democratic renewal that levels the playing field with Labour and the Conservatives, and Harborne said he expects nothing in return. Trades Union Congress general secretary Paul Nowak called Reform a party for sale and the donations a crisis for democracy, and a Labour cabinet minister, Liberal Democrats and a transparency campaigner criticized the donations or called for limits. The dispute is whether Reform was right to accept the money.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
The full text of the keynote address TUC general secretary Paul Nowak gave to the TUC Congress in Brighton on September 14, 2026, as published by LabourList. The TUC also posted the speech on its own website.
Reporting
About this source
Guardian report on union leaders' discussions about a cap on political donations after the Reform UK donations. It quotes Paul Nowak's TUC Congress address, union general secretaries, Richard Tice, and Boris Johnson's remarks on GB News.
Before the quotation
Nowak turned to Farage after a passage on employment rights, describing him as a self-proclaimed workers' champion who takes donations from foreign funders, and asked why two crypto billionaires had given Reform 72 million pounds in two days.
After the quotation
He went on to reject any comparison between union members' political contributions and a party he said was bought by billionaires. He then called for barring donations from people who do not live and pay tax in Britain, banning donations in cryptocurrency, and ending foreign funding of political ads.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Reform UK's acceptance of the two 36 million pound donations from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne in September 2026. Condemned: Nowak says the donations show that Reform UK and Farage are for sale and calls them a crisis for democracy, a direct criticism of the party taking the money. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional; it loses because his call for wider limits on political funding adds a remedy without qualifying his criticism of these donations.
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- People and groups discussed
- Reform UK, Nigel Farage
More from this case
Read the full caseAngela Rayner says two offshore billionaires are trying to buy democracy
“How dare they try to compare money from a couple of crypto billionaires to union members’ subs? The most highly regulated political funding we can have ... It couldn’t be more different from a couple of offshore billionaires trying to buy our democracy.”Read statement
Boris Johnson objects to a cap but questions the crypto donors' motives
“Just because some people want to support one party very generously, Labour kicks up a huge fuss and says they’re going to cap donations ... The problem with Reform … whatever the motives of these guys, these crypto kings, in funding Reform with squillions. I wonder whether they want Reform to be pro-crypto”Read statement
Nigel Farage calls the 72 million pounds an investment in democratic renewal
“The donations of Mr Harborne and Mr Delo help to level a playing field that has always been tilted against any genuine challenge to the two-party duopoly. ... It must also be said that neither Christopher Harborne, nor Ben Delo, nor any other donor to Reform UK will receive a knighthood or a peerage in return for their donations. The cash-for-peerages scandals that have disgraced successive governments must be consigned to the dustbin of history. This money is an investment in democratic renewal, pure and simple.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Paul Nowak calls Reform UK a party for sale over the donations". First published: 2026-10-14. Last updated: 2026-10-14. https://disputeindex.com/events/5676-in-his-keynote-address-to-the-tuc-congress