There are plenty of reasons why you might dislike the two huge donations announced by Reform UK over the weekend. Perhaps you fear the prospect of American-level funding in British politics. Maybe you’re concerned about money buying influence in the corridors of power. Alternatively, you might have an aversion to crypto billionaires. Maybe you just oppose Nigel Farage and his party. Or, most likely, it could be some combination of all four.

Each is a perfectly legitimate position to hold, though I suspect that the Government’s outrage about the news is more heavily weighted to the last factor on my list.

For ministers battling Reform’s threat to seize Labour’s voters, its seats and its grip on power, the prospect of Farage sitting on a £72m war chest from two cryptocurrency billionaires is more than a little alarming. That the Prime Minister abandoned his previous support for a cap on donations three weeks ago, amid concerns that it might affect his own party’s funding from the trade unions, doesn’t help.

However, a solution has presented itself: while the Government isn’t capping donations generally, it has already announced plans to cap the money given by British citizens living abroad – a cap which would apply until they have been back in the country for more than 12 months.

The law hasn’t been changed yet, but Housing Secretary Angela Rayner suggested on Sunday that once introduced, it would apply........

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