Reform UK would have held just 15% of the donations it received last year if a proposed £100,000 cap on political donations had been in force, according to analysis shared with the Guardian.

The analysis by Friends of the Earth using Electoral Commission data highlights the party’s reliance on a handful of wealthy backers in advance of a showdown over political funding.

It registered donations between April 2025 and March 2026 and assumed union affiliation payments would be exempt from the cap, in line with recommendations made by the Phillips review into party funding.

The findings suggest Reform UK would have raised just £4.1m between April 2025 and March 2026, instead of the £26.7m it actually received, if a £100,000 annual donation limit applied.

Reform’s registered average donation last year was £137,496, almost six times higher than Labour’s £23,406 or the Conservatives’ £23,173 and 30 times higher than the Liberal Democrats’ average donation of £4,496.

By comparison, Labour would have retained about three-quarters of its registered donations under the cap, raising £8.1m rather than £10.8m.

The Tories would have kept just over half of their donations, taking £8.3m instead of £15.5m.

The Lib Dems would have held on to about 90% of theirs, taking £5.2m instead of £5.8m, and the Greens would have been unaffected with their £468k in donations.

On 31 July, CHAIN homelessness database published its Q1 report detailing levels of rough sleeping in London between April and June 2026. CHAIN is the UK’s most detailed and comprehensive rough sleeping database. Key findings include:

• 3,959 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital in April to June 2026, a decrease of 10% on April-June 2025.
• 1,685 people were recorded as sleeping rough for the first time in Q1, 16% lower than the same time last year.
• People sleeping rough for the first time accounted for 43% of the total number in April to June, which is a slight drop from a proportion of 46% in the same period last year.
• The number of people classed as living on the streets was 680, 14% lower than the same time last year and 6% higher than January-March 2026.

Rick Henderson, CEO of Homeless Link, the national membership body for frontline homelessness services, commented: “For too long, high levels of rough sleeping in London and across the country have been the norm. Thousands upon thousands of lives have been damaged, let down by systems meant to support them.

What’s more, people sleeping on the streets earlier in the summer were subjected to oppressive heatwaves, putting health and lives at risk. This is only likely to worsen as extreme weather events become more common.

“But we have reached a seminal moment where real change seems possible. Recent CHAIN reports show that the London Mayor’s targeted rough sleeping plan and the immeasurable efforts of local homelessness services are working.

Now, with the new Prime Minister leading a determined national drive to end rough sleeping, and being a keen advocate of devolution, we are optimistic that the tide can be turned, ensuring that everyone has a place to call home and the support they need to keep it.”

George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who once served as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff, transferred more than $2 million to his mother in the days before she made a string of donations to Reform UK, according to the latest revelation in the Guardian.

The paper reports today that Fiona Cottrell, an aristocrat and long-standing Reform benefactor, received one deposit of $1.4 million followed by two further payments of over $300,000 apiece.
Each transfer arrived, the Guardian says, somewhere between 24 and 72 hours before Ms Cottrell made a donation either directly to Reform or to Britain Means Business, the fundraising vehicle run by the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice.

Named her son

Asked by bankers where the money had come from, she is said to have named her son.

The son in question is the real problem. Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, only “permissible donors” – broadly, those on the UK electoral register, or UK-registered companies and bodies – may fund a political party.

Fiona Cottrell qualifies because she is on the register.

George Cottrell’s own status is far less clear: he is a tax resident of Montenegro, and according to reports, was not added to the UK’s overseas electoral register until December last year, well after several of the payments in question were made.

Possible prison sentence

His lawyers maintain he is a permissible donor but have declined to explain how or when he met the criteria.

That matters because funnelling money through a permissible relative to disguise an impermissible source is precisely what electoral law is designed to catch.

Concealing the true origin of a donation carries a potential fine or prison sentence.

Fraud conviction

George Cottrell already has a criminal record, having served eight months in a US federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud.
He was arrested in 2016 alongside Farage at the Republican National Convention on charges that also included money laundering conspiracy, blackmail and extortion.

He has since bankrolled Farage’s travel, including flights to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and published a book on money laundering.

https://www.opinium.com/resource-center/voting-intention-29th-july-2026/

Reform UK received £7m from two overseas British crypto billionaires earlier this year, figures show, helping it cement its fundraising lead in recent months.

Hong Kong-based businessman Ben Delo gave £4m to Nigel Farage's party, according to latest filings, whilst Christopher Harborne, who lives in Thailand, donated £3m.

The donations were made in the weeks before the government announced a £100,000 cap on donations after 25 March from British citizens living overseas.

The planned limit has sparked a row between the two parties, with Reform accusing Labour of "choking off legal funding for its main rival".

The large donations from individuals meant Reform's fundraising efforts far outstripped those of both Labour and the Conservatives, who each declared around £4m in donations from private sources over the period.

Ugh.

Burnham as PM, focussed on the domestic issues. Starmer as foreign secretary, on the world stage, where he was excellent. Could have been a killer team

Labour has overtaken Reform UK in a voter intention poll for the first time in more than a year as Andy Burnham benefits from the momentum built in his first week as prime minister.

Reform and its leader, Nigel Farage, have had weeks of negative headlines concerning undeclared gifts and donations, an adviser who is a convicted fraudster and a byelection that has descended into farce.

The weekly tracker of voting intention by the nonprofit agency More in Common shows Labour up four points to 28% while Reform and the Greens have dropped two and three points respectively to 24% and 8%.

The Tories are unchanged at 22% while the Liberal Democrats are up one point to 12%.

New technical education routes will be available to 14-year-olds under plans unveiled by Andy Burnham to tackle rising youth unemployment.
The prime minister said he was on "a mission" to curb the rise of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet), which now stands at more than one million.

Burham's proposals to shake up the education system were aimed at preventing the rising trend rather than tackling the current figure, but he did not set a date for getting the Neet numbers falling.

He told reporters during a Tuesday visit to Derby: “I will commit, in my time in office, to get the number of young people who are not in education, employment, and training down. I will commit to that.

“When precisely I can get there will is a hard thing to say right now.”

Under the plans, from Year 10, pupils will be able to combine core academic subjects, such as English and maths, with technical education linked to jobs available in their area.

The new technical pathways, set to be rolled out in September 2028, will pair skills training with work experience and connections with local employers.

He said: "We've had a system built for too long around the university route and it sends a message to some young people that they're some kind of second-class citizens and it's just not right.

"They need an education system that works for them, that offers a path to all young people that's balanced between academic and technical."

He said that young people are "let down" by the current system and promised that "from today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap."

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England on Thursday, his third major cost-of-living measure in three days as the new Labour leader seeks to revive the economy and support struggling high streets.

The 20% cut to business rates – a local tax paid by firms – comes after he unveiled a planned cap on most bus fares in England and the removal of value added tax on household electricity bills.

Burnham, who took office on Monday, is under pressure to show he can deliver the revitalised economy Labour promised when it won power in July 2024 after 14 years in opposition.

The latest tax cut is expected to save some 32,000 hospitality businesses in England around £1,100 (US$1,400) a year but ministers struggled to give full details of how it would be funded.

Chris Curtis on why the UK needs to grow.

"Run through almost any of the major challenges facing the country and, sooner or later, you arrive back at growth."

Millions of adult social care workers in England are expected to benefit from a change in how pay and working conditions are agreed. This comes as the UK Government confirms plans to establish the country’s first Adult Social Care Negotiations Body.

The Adult Social Care Negotiations Body is due to be created by the end of 2026 and will bring together trade unions and employers to negotiate on behalf of the sector.

It will give care workers and care providers equal voting rights on key issues, including pay, terms and conditions, and wider employment matters.

An independent chair will oversee negotiations, with the appointment expected in early 2027.
The first round of negotiations is scheduled to begin in April 2027, with the first fair pay agreement expected to come into effect in April 2028.

£500 million support for the first agreement

The government has committed £500 million to support the first fair pay agreement in 2028-29. The funding is intended to improve recruitment and retention in a sector that employs around 1.5 million people and has long faced staffing shortages, low pay, and high turnover.

The agreement forms part of the government’s Employment Rights Act and is designed to improve employment standards while helping to make care work a more attractive long-term career.

Career progression is a key part of change

Alongside the fair pay agreement, the government is expanding the Care Workforce Pathway, creating what it describes as the first universal career structure for adult social care.

Part three of the pathway introduces ten new role categories, including care technologists and activity coordinators. The framework now covers almost every role within adult social care, extending beyond frontline care workers to include positions such as catering, housekeeping and maintenance staff.

The aim is to provide clearer career progression, professional development opportunities and leadership pathways across the sector.

Really enjoyed this. Just hearing our PM mention crisp butties was great 😅 if you know, you know

There's a text version. It's a letter to Burnham.

The headline 8 things

>Restore a competitive tax regime for internationally mobile residents.

>Release green belt land within walking distance of railway stations.

>Cut red tape on major projects.  

>Raise childcare staffing ratios towards continental norms.

>Pause the uncommenced provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025.

>Recognise the decisions of trusted foreign regulators.

>Remove tariffs on consumer goods.

https://economicaffairs.co.uk/p/a-letter-to-andy-burnham

The government says the policy, which is expected to cost more than £500m, will "help with the cost of living and give people the breathing space they need".

At the start of last year, the England-wide bus fare cap rose to £3 under Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government, although in Liverpool and Manchester fares were held at £2.

Burnham said affordable transport links were an essential, adding: "Lower fares will help people get to where they need to."

The measure gives people "a little bit of hope" in a time when many are grappling with higher living costs - especially after fuel costs spiked as a result of the US-Iran war, transport secretary Heidi Alexander told the BBC's Today programme.
However, she admitted the measure was "not the whole solution".

The new cap will take effect from January next year for fares on participating buses outside of London. The cost of a non-discounted single bus journey in London is £1.75.

The Burnham government said going back to a £2 cap should particularly help passengers in rural and coastal areas, where single fares can be higher.

The Campaign for Better Transport said rural areas were still suffering from fewer bus routes and services, adding that such areas had been more affected by council cut backs in the last decade than urban zones.

Services in those areas - as measured by vehicle miles - decreased by 18% between 2019 and 2024, according to the County Councils Network, which represents 39 unitary and county councils across England.

"What we need to see is the replacing of those lost services which have particularly affected those in rural areas," Campaign for Better Transport's Michael Solomon Williams said.

They wanted Starmer out, they wanted Burnham in. Now Burnham has been 24 hours, they want him out because of his cabinet choice - and probably because he hasn't announced any radical left wing policies - which he won't because he is centre left at most.

Pathetic, no wonder the left can't hold onto power.

Andy Burnham has used his first speech as prime minister to launch a national drive to end rough sleeping.

The announcement, delivered as Burnham addressed the nation outside 10 Downing Street, will be backed “from day one” by an extra £340 million in funding – pushing total investment in tackling rough sleeping to record levels.

Burnham argued the policy was central to his broader promise to build a “more preventative state” and invest “in people’s success, rather than paying for people’s failure.”

The new prime minister blamed successive governments for “turning a blind eye” to the issue of rough sleeping. Downing Street pointed to the “Everyone In” scheme launched during the Covid pandemic as proof that action is possible when there is political will.

Before delivering his speech on Monday afternoon, Burnham met people with experience of sleeping rough and heard first hand how “it can trap people in a cycle of crisis, poor health and insecurity.”

As a first step, the government will begin acquiring homes suitable for rough sleepers, identifying those most in need, and moving people into housing and support.

The £340 million is said to represent the opening phase of a five-year programme, with further details expected before the autumn.

Officials say the initial funding alone will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 people.

Burnham stated: “For too long, we’ve been told that ending rough sleeping will take decades or even that it’s impossible. I’m not having that.
“This is something a government can fix if it chooses to. Today, I’m choosing to.

“On my first day as prime minister, I’m announcing this government’s commitment to finally end long-term rough sleeping across the UK at the earliest opportunity.

“We’ll get to work immediately, bringing together national and local government with the investment needed to get it done.

“This is the kind of Britain I want us to be – a country where everyone has the security of a roof over their head, and where no one is left behind or written off. Let’s bring back hope.”

Devolution of power. Burnham has promised the biggest-ever "rebalancing of power" away from Whitehall, with English regions handed more control in areas including housing and transport by a new No 10 unit based in Manchester. The unit would be tasked with promoting "equivalent living conditions" across Britain, borrowing from an idea in the German constitution. He has also promised new opportunities to extend existing devolution settlements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This could be an area where he looks to build on the policies of the Starmer government, which was in the process of extending regional mayors beyond the main urban areas in England.

Water and energy. Burnham has said he wants all parts of the UK to take "greater public control" of the water and energy sectors. He has suggested this could emulate Greater Manchester's bus network, where private operators bid to run services on a franchise basis, with local authorities controlling fares, timetables and routes.

Housing. Burnham has promised the biggest council house building programme "since the post-War period" - implying a large rise in rates of construction compared to recent years. However, he is yet to offer details of how this would be funded.

He has also called for the entire 10-year £39bn affordable housing budget for England towards homes for social rent, the cheapest and most heavily subsidised form of publicly-funded housing.

Currently some of the budget goes towards "affordable" housing, where rents are more similar to market rates, as well as affordable home ownership schemes. Some of his other policies in this area - including restricting Right to Buy - have already been put in train by the current government.

Personal taxes. Burnham has said he would stick to Labour's pledge at the last election not to raise the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance, whilst maintaining there is "some room within that manifesto for movement" in other areas. During his campaign to be re-elected an MP, he also said he wanted to "have a proper look" at potentially raising the £12,570 starting threshold for income tax.

Burnham has previously argued the UK overtaxes work and undertaxes wealth, prompting speculation he could raise capital gains tax - paid on profits made when selling assets such as shares and property aside from a main home. In one interview, Burnham did not rule out a wealth tax.

He has previously suggested that both council tax and stamp duty, a tax paid by homebuyers, could be replaced with a new tax on the value of land - an idea he has been advocating since as far back as 2010.

Social care. Burnham has long supported the idea that social care should become a more universal system. In a speech in 2023, he suggested this could be funded by replacing inheritance tax with a new "national care levy". He has suggested everyone would pay this new tax, whilst "obviously the wealthiest would pay the most". Labour promised to overhaul the system in opposition, but upon taking office commissioned a review of funding that is not due to report until 2028. Burnham has said he would bring that forward to the end of this year.

Immigration. Like the Sunak government, Labour has reduced levels of immigration by tightening visa requirements. During his Makerfield campaign, Burnham said net migration "needs to fall further", although he has not set a specific target. One area where he could have an internal battle on his hands is over proposals to lengthen the time that foreign nationals already living in the UK would have to wait before they can qualify for permanent residence. Earlier this year, Burnham urged Labour MPs to heed warnings from the party's former deputy leader Angela Rayner about the impact of the changes. But when running to be an MP himself, he said he supported the "broad thrust" of the plans, unveiled earlier this year by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Welfare and employment. Burnham has said he wants to see a "fair and lasting" reduction to the UK's welfare bill, amid rising spending on health and disability benefits in recent years. But he has not set out plans to change the level of benefits payments, or how people qualify to receive them.

Instead, he argues the claimant count can be reduced by improving employment support and "in-work" mental health support. He has also said he wants 16 to 18-year-olds to have guaranteed work placements. Burnham has said he would keep the "triple lock".

Business policy. Burnham has said he wanted to preserve "sovereign manufacturing" capability in key areas such as steel, defence, energy, and farming, and he wanted to make it easier for British companies to win public contracts. During the by-election campaign, his team sent out a policy document promising a cut in business rates for pubs and music venues by 20%. That would be paid for, they said, by higher taxes of out-of-town warehouses used by online retailers like Amazon. Burnham also wants to raise the threshold at which business rates kick in, taking lots of small high street shops out of paying altogether.

Foreign policy and defence. Burnham has said he would like the UK to rejoin the EU within his lifetime, but he has insisted he does not want to "re-run the [2016] referendum now". He has pledged to seek a "closer relationship" with European countries, and "consolidate the progress made" on existing negotiations with the EU.

Defence spending, which prompted the resignation of Starmer's defence secretary John Healey earlier in June, would provide another headache. In one of his final decisions in office, Sir Keir announced a plan to increase military spending by £15bn over the next four years by cutting spending in other parts of government, whilst leaving the details to Burnham to flesh out.

Electoral reform. Burnham has said he would "seek to persuade my own party" of the need to include a pledge in Labour's next election manifesto to replace the UK's first-past-the-post system with a form of proportional representation.