Reform would dodge any Labour ban on foreign donors by 'setting up a crypto industry union', senior aide claims
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By GLEN OWEN POLITICAL EDITOR
Published: | Updated:
Nigel Farage would bypass any Labour ban on foreign donors to his Reform UK party by setting up a trade union that would funnel the money, one of his most senior aides said on Saturday night.
Andy Burnham’s Government reacted to last weekend’s unprecedented £72million donations from two cryptocurrency billionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, by pledging to introduce new residency requirements which would retrospectively render the donations unlawful.
Both men had previously been based overseas.
But on Saturday night, Reform UK’s Arron Banks claimed the party would respond by creating a new trade union – provisionally named the Allied Computer & Crypto Workers Union (ACCAW) – which would represent workers in the new IT, AI and cryptocurrency industries.
It would be certified in the UK and therefore comply with Labour’s proposed new laws.
Under an alternative plan, the party would flood other trade unions with a ‘Red Wave’ of Reform supporters to engineer a ‘reverse takeover’ of the organisations.
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage (pictured) would bypass any Labour ban on foreign donors by setting up a trade union that would funnel the money, according to one of his most senior aides
The move would be inspired by the ‘blue wave’ campaign in 2018 in which Mr Banks flooded the Conservative Party with thousands of former UKIP members to push the Conservative Party towards a hard Brexit.
The party says internal polling shows a high level of support for Reform among trade union members.
Mr Banks said ‘the ACCAW would be the first union to politically support the views of its members’ and effectively ‘hoist Labour by its own petard’.
‘Our Red Wave campaign would remove champagne-swilling, socialist union barons who take home massive salaries.
'Huge numbers of trade union members support Reform, and we aim to mobilise them via a sustained campaign,’ he added.
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