Crypto millionaires would gain £500m over five years from Reform policy, Labour analysis suggests – UK politics live

From 1h agoThe Labour party has released an analysis suggesting that cryptocurrency millionaires could benefit to the tune of around £500m from Reform UK policies over the course of a is based on proposals in a bill published by Reform UK last year, and new figures published by HM Revenue and Customs about the number of Britons making large profits from weekend it was announced that two cryptocurrency billionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, have given £72m (£36m each) to Reform UK. These donations dwarf previous record donations to British political parties – although legislation going through parliament about residency requirements for donors may result in the donations being deemed UK insists that Delo and Harborne have not asked for anything in return for their donations, and it says they are just contributing out of a sense of patriotic duty to a party they believe will rescue the it has been noted that a sharp rise in crypto donations to the party in recent years has coincided with Nigel Farage and his colleagues showing increasing interest in policies that would help the sector example came last year when the party published a cryptoassets and digital finance bill. At the time it was the only draft legislation published by the party, suggesting policy in this area was more advanced than in bill proposes cutting capital gains tax on crypto investments to 10%, and this has allowed Labour to calculate that crypto millionaires could gain a total of around £500m over the course of a calculation is based on figures released in August by HM Revenue and Customs saying that “240 people reported more than £1m in capital gains from cryptoassets in the 2024 to 2025 tax year … accounting for £717m of cryptoasset gains between them.”Explaining its figures in a briefing, Labour said:

double quotation markReform’s policy on crypto includes cutting capital gains tax (CGT) on crypto assets from the current level of 24% (for higher-rate taxpayers) and 18% (for basic-rate taxpayers) to a flat 10%.

Analysis of this policy shows that most of Reform’s tax giveaways would go to a very small high-earning group, after official HMRC statistics published last month found that 240 people in 2024/25 reported more than £1m in capital gains from crypto assets.

The HMRC stats show that this tiny group of crypto millionaires made £717m of the total £1.38bn crypto asset gains – reported by 17,600 people – in 2024/25.

The high-earning group of crypto investors could save around £100m a year in total under Reform’s policy. That means a tax cut worth half a billion pounds going to just 240 millionaires over the course of the next parliament.

A Labour spokesperson said:

double quotation markFarage and Reform are drowning in sleaze and scandal. They can’t buy their way out of the questions that the public need answers to. It’s clear Reform are on the side of a handful of crypto-billionaires, while Labour is delivering the change people across the country want to see.

In response, Reform UK said it was the only party with a plan for crypto. A Reform UK spokesperson said:

double quotation markReform UK are the only party calling for proper regulation of cryptocurrency and ensuring that consumers are protected. Labour and the Tories don’t even have a plan.

Key eventsnowDUP leader Gavin Robinson urges unionists to cooperate ahead of next year's Stormont elections31m agoBurnham urged by opposition parties to follow Macron and act with more urgency on Russian threat1h agoCrypto millionaires would gain £500m over 5 years from Reform UK's crypto tax cuts, Labour analysis says2h agoReform UK says it would intensify immigration checks on coaches and trains travelling from Ireland into Northern Ireland3h agoDisabled people in UK need right to travel abroad, say MPs, after ‘ridiculous’ restrictions3h agoWhy is council tax in Wandsworth going up 94%3h agoIrish PM praises Burnham for 'standing up for justice' with sanctions against illegal Israel settlements in West Bank4h agoYouth Parliament at risk of being scrapped4h agoPeers urge government to drop plan to include duty to 'drive economic growth' in BBC's charter4h agoRetail sales bounce back in Great Britain amid brighter signs for economy5h agoPolanski accuses Burnham of being 'copy and paste Starmer' after Sky News leak reveals policy overlap5h agoMicheál Martin arrives at No 10 North for meeting with Burnham5h agoBadenoch says Tories could mount legal challenge against cuts being imposed on Wandsworth council5h agoWatson says Palantir 'can transform public services' as he explains joining firm6h agoGreens condemn Tom Watson taking job with Palantir, saying it shows 'corrosive revolving door' between politics and business6h agoBurnham to meet Irish PM at No 10 North as UK bids to get exemptions from EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ planGavin Robinson, the DUP leader, has said unionists will not tolerate “egos” scuppering the “huge opportunity” that is next year’s Stormont assembly election, the Press Association reports. Speaking ahead of his party conference, starting later today, Robinson said unionists want to see unionist parties co-operating, and revealed he has met with UUP leader Jon Burrows and has more meetings planned. PA says:

double quotation markThe last assembly election in 2022 saw Sinn Féin make history by being the first non-unionist party to top the poll, and Michelle O’Neill become the first nationalist first minister.

Then Sinn Féin (27 MLAs) finished two seats ahead of the DUP (25), which now has 26 Assembly seats following the co-option of Peter Martin after the election of independent Alex Easton to Westminster in 2024.

Asked whether he believes his party can top the poll and reclaim the post of first minister, Robinson described a “huge opportunity for the wider unionist community” and called for unionist parties to co-operate.

He said the UUP benefited from co-operation in the past, referring to the election of Tom Elliott to the Fermanagh South Tyrone Westminster seat in 2015.

“If 2022 taught us anything it’s that division costs – there are fewer unionists around the executive table because of division within unionism, and so I believe that in this election in May, unionism can win if it is prepared to cooperate,” he told Press Association.

“I am willing to cooperate with other unionists. That’s not a new thing. I benefited from cooperation in 2015.

“The Ulster Unionists benefited from co-operation in 2015, and actually throughout the history of our party there has been a willingness to co-operate within the wider strategic interests of unionism.”

Gavin Robinson on a balcony at Parliament Buildings, Stormont. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PAThe French president, Emmanuel Macron said today that the threat posed by Russia’s shadow operations was growing across Europe, and he had ordered measures to protect France’s critical infrastructure from increasing Russian “hybrid attacks”, AFP reports. AFP says:

double quotation mark“The Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and against France has intensified,” he said after a meeting with French political leaders, before he heads to the UN General Assembly next week.

France’s interior minister had met regional prefects to step up “vigilance in response to the Russian hybrid attacks”, Macron said after the meeting with presidential hopefuls and party leaders ahead of next year’s election.

He said he had ordered “the government to prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure” and the “most sensitive” defence industry and technology sites against drone and cyber-attacks.

The French president said that despite the Russian threats France would continue to support Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion of the pro-Western country in February 2022.

He also vowed that France would respond to Russia’s shadow attacks.

“This will not go unanswered,” Macron said, without elaborating.

“The intention behind it is to intimidate us and to derail the effort to support the Ukrainians. The consequence will be the opposite,” he added.

“We are not intimidated, because we know that what is at stake today in Ukraine is our security.”

Commenting this morning on the news that Macron had summoned of French political leaders to discuss the Russian threat, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said:

double quotation markGiven how seriously the French government is taking Russian drone threats, it is fair to ask, are we doing enough?

It’s high time the government started taking this threat seriously and briefed opposition leaders on the threats and consequences for UK security.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, made a similar point in a post on social media late last night. Referencing a statement by Donald Tusk, the Polish PM, she said:

double quotation markMacron and Tusk are speaking and acting with an urgency that makes the latest reports about Russia violating Lithuanian airspace even more concerning. It is not clear that the Government is taking the threat from Russia seriously enough. Its own intelligence assessment says an attack on NATO could come by 2030, while repeated smaller-scale incursions are already taking place. It comes only weeks after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow, reportedly to warn Russia against attacking a NATO member. Our European allies are responding with growing urgency, yet the Government still will not say what it intends to do on defence. The NATO Secretary General was in Britain only yesterday calling for that path to be set out, and I agree with him.

Emmanuel Macron holding a press conference at Élysée Palace today. Photograph: Thomas Samson/Pool AFP/APThe Labour party has released an analysis suggesting that cryptocurrency millionaires could benefit to the tune of around £500m from Reform UK policies over the course of a is based on proposals in a bill published by Reform UK last year, and new figures published by HM Revenue and Customs about the number of Britons making large profits from weekend it was announced that two cryptocurrency billionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, have given £72m (£36m each) to Reform UK. These donations dwarf previous record donations to British political parties – although legislation going through parliament about residency requirements for donors may result in the donations being deemed UK insists that Delo and Harborne have not asked for anything in return for their donations, and it says they are just contributing out of a sense of patriotic duty to a party they believe will rescue the it has been noted that a sharp rise in crypto donations to the party in recent years has coincided with Nigel Farage and his colleagues showing increasing interest in policies that would help the sector example came last year when the party published a cryptoassets and digital finance bill. At the time it was the only draft legislation published by the party, suggesting policy in this area was more advanced than in bill proposes cutting capital gains tax on crypto investments to 10%, and this has allowed Labour to calculate that crypto millionaires could gain a total of around £500m over the course of a calculation is based on figures released in August by HM Revenue and Customs saying that “240 people reported more than £1m in capital gains from cryptoassets in the 2024 to 2025 tax year … accounting for £717m of cryptoasset gains between them.”Explaining its figures in a briefing, Labour said:

double quotation markReform’s policy on crypto includes cutting capital gains tax (CGT) on crypto assets from the current level of 24% (for higher-rate taxpayers) and 18% (for basic-rate taxpayers) to a flat 10%.

Analysis of this policy shows that most of Reform’s tax giveaways would go to a very small high-earning group, after official HMRC statistics published last month found that 240 people in 2024/25 reported more than £1m in capital gains from crypto assets.

The HMRC stats show that this tiny group of crypto millionaires made £717m of the total £1.38bn crypto asset gains – reported by 17,600 people – in 2024/25.

The high-earning group of crypto investors could save around £100m a year in total under Reform’s policy. That means a tax cut worth half a billion pounds going to just 240 millionaires over the course of the next parliament.

A Labour spokesperson said:

double quotation markFarage and Reform are drowning in sleaze and scandal. They can’t buy their way out of the questions that the public need answers to. It’s clear Reform are on the side of a handful of crypto-billionaires, while Labour is delivering the change people across the country want to see.

In response, Reform UK said it was the only party with a plan for crypto. A Reform UK spokesperson said:

double quotation markReform UK are the only party calling for proper regulation of cryptocurrency and ensuring that consumers are protected. Labour and the Tories don’t even have a plan.

Downing Street has issued its readout of Andy Burnham’s meeting with his Irish counterpart, Micheál Martin, this morning. A No 10 spokesperson said:

double quotation markThe two leaders began by reaffirming the close partnership between the UK and Ireland, as well as their shared commitment to upholding the Good Friday agreement.

They next discussed the importance of their joint commitments to addressing the legacy of the Troubles and working towards lasting reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

The prime minister then underlined the UK’s desire to work closely with Ireland during its presidency of the European Union as the UK seeks a closer relationship with Europe.

On Ukraine, the two leaders were clear in their united support for Ukraine against Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion and their determination to continue working to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

They also looked ahead to the UK’s hosting of the next UK-Ireland summit in the first half of next year and agreed its importance in working together across priorities including security and trade.

Andy Burnham (right) and Micheál Martin at the Brian Boru Irish Club in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, today. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPATonight the DUP is starting its annual conference in Belfast. One speaker will be Danny Kruger, the Reform UK MP in charge of the party’s plans for government. He has announced that Reform UK would intensify immigration checks on coaches, buses and trains travelling from Ireland into Northern his speech, Kruger is expected to say:

double quotation markIllegal and unvetted dangerous criminals, who cross into Northern Ireland, are abusing the soft Irish border, using it as a backdoor route into the UK. The absence of checkpoints at the border does not remove the requirement to have a right to enter.

Almost all illegal movement from the Republic into Northern Ireland is by scheduled coach or train, arriving at a handful of terminals. We will impose a civil penalty of £10,000 per passenger on any bus or rail operator for each illegal immigrant transported into Northern Ireland.

Reform UK says the checks would be carried by immigration enforcement officers and they would happen at terminals, not at the border crossing. Under the common travel area rules, there are no checks on people at the point they cross the Ireland/Northern Ireland border and, when Brexit took the UK out of the EU, both sides went to enormous efforts to ensure that border posts would not start having to go his speech, Kruger will insist that what he is proposing is “not a border check”. Reform UK says the Irish government already carries out immigration checks on vehicles on north-south transit routes but it claims these are “grossly insufficient”.Disabled people must have a guaranteed right to travel abroad, MPs and peers have said, as further cases emerged of individuals barred from taking holidays as a result of “ridiculous” rules imposed by local NHS care boards and local councils, Frances Ryan and Patrick Butler people in UK need right to travel abroad, say MPs, after ‘ridiculous’ restrictions