New rules won't stop me donating, says billionaire Reform backer

New rules won't stop me donating, says billionaire Reform backer12 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJoshua NevettPolitical reporterGeorge Cracknell Wright/LNPChristopher Harborne is a cryptocurrency investor and aviation entrepreneurThe British billionaire behind a record donation to Reform UK has insisted Sir Keir Starmer's planned crackdown on political finance will not stop him from giving money to the party.Speaking to the Telegraph, Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based businessman, claimed he was "the reason" the government had announced a £100,000 cap on donations from British citizens living overseas.He told the newspaper he believed he could challenge the cap in court and has not ruled out returning to the UK to get around it.A government spokesperson said the cap on donations was part of its "decisive action to protect the integrity of our democratic system from foreign interference".Housing Secretary Steve Reed denied the cap was designed to target Reform UK's donors, after announcing the move last month."The reason we are capping donations from British nationals who are living and paying their taxes overseas is that we cannot track where their funding has come from in the same way as if they're in the UK," Reed told the BBC."So you could have situation where the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, hostile states, could be funnelling their money through those individuals to influence UK elections."The Telegraph interview comes as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage faces questions about a £5m gift Harborne had given him before he became an MP.Harborne, who until now had kept a low profile, said he wanted to speak out to explain his motivation and his relationship with Farage.Farage said he had been given the £5m gift to pay for personal protection "so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life".But Labour and the Conservatives have accused Farage of breaking parliamentary...