On political donations, the Government’s July elections policy statement set out important measures to limit foreign interference. That work is welcome, but we must go further. As a former financial crime compliance officer, let me be crystal clear: we should ban cryptocurrency donations outright. Crypto is the perfect vehicle for covert foreign funding—fast, opaque and hard to trace. In my mind, there is no democratic justification for allowing it. It is a solution in search of a problem. There is only one reason why political parties would encourage donations in crypto: to conceal their origin.
I refer Members to recent reporting that Reform UK—I notice it is unrepresented in the Chamber today—became the first party to start taking such donations. I have recently returned from a visit to Montenegro with the Foreign Affairs Committee. Our focus has been on looking at misinformation and disinformation, and how it is spread like a cancer by those who wish to undermine our institutions. While there, several local politicians and officials raised with me their concerns about British national George Cottrell, a well-known figure in the crypto world.