Reform’s Robert Jenrick ‘very confident’ £72m donations are ‘perfectly legal’ – UK politics live

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Reform has been describing these crypto billionaire donations – again the largest single gift to a British political party – as being from patriotic businessmen who “simply support our agenda”.

Pressed by Laura Kuennsberg on the BBC: “And part of your agenda is being very pro cryptocurrency, which is their business?”

Jenrick replies, “Um, not really”, saying first that he wants “proper” regulation of the digital currency which is a bit of a “Wild West”, and then advancing to the idea of gains for the UK in adopting crypto.

Throughout this morning, he’s been referring to himself as Reform Shadow Chancellor.

“Is there an economic opportunity for the UK from crypto? Yes, and I want, as Reform Shadow Chancellor of UK, to seize that so we can compete with Dubai and the United States.”