Labour ministers could use new laws to block Elon Musk from donating millions to Reform UK.
Nigel Farage said “the issue of money was discussed” when he held talks with billionaire Mr Musk at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last week.
But Labour’s Lucy Powell hs hinted proposed reforms to political donations could prevent Mr Musk from donating up to £78million.
Asked whether the Government could prevent the Tesla and X chief from donating to Reform, Ms Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We’ve no immediate plans to do that, but we do have a manifesto commitment to look more broadly at our elections regime in this country, from things like votes at 16, which we’re committed to, but also to make sure that our electoral system has got that integrity and is robust from many of the new issues that face undermining our democracy and our elections.
“But just to be clear that foreign donations to UK-based political parties is prohibited under current law, so that’s something that already exists.”
Labour’s election manifesto committed to strengthening the rules around donations to political parties.
Foreign donations are not allowed in UK politics, but contributions from a “UK-registered company” can be accepted.
But Mr Musk’s biggest firm, Tesla, is registered in the UK, potentially paving the way for a huge donation to be made.
Pressed on whether the Government could take action during this parliamentary term, Ms Powell suggested the clampdown could feature in an Elections Bill planned for the next parliamentary session, which starts in July.
She said: “We are committed to bringing forward some changes to the way in which elections are run in this country.
“There will be an Elections Bill probably in the next parliamentary session, but obviously we’ve not made those decisions yet because we are committed to things like votes at 16, which is in our manifesto.
“And our manifesto also said that we would look at other issues to make sure that our elections in this country are fair, are robust, are free from many of the issues that are undermining our democracy at the moment, like mis- and disinformation, foreign state actors and so on, and making sure that the issues around donations are also fair and robust as well.”
