Parliament will debate a petition to tighten the rules on political donations as MPs vie to stop Elon Musk’s interference in British politics, The London Economic has learnt.
A viral petition with 140,000 signatures will be debated in Parliament later this month (31 March) to “remove loopholes that allow wealthy foreign individuals to make donations into UK political parties” and to “cap all donations to a reasonable amount”.
The petition started earlier this year amid fears Elon Musk could donate $100m to Reform UK. It reads: “We think that ultra-rich individuals or foreign state actors should not be able to use their money to give unfair advantage to a political party in order to further their own agenda.”
The government has already responded to it before MPs have debated it. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “While it is clear that foreign donations to political parties and other campaigners are illegal, the government recognises the continued risk posed by actors who seek to interfere with and undermine our democratic processes. We do not think the current rules are strong enough. That is why we made the commitment in our manifesto to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties.
“There are currently no plans to put a cap on donations. Political parties play a vital role in our democracy, and it is important that they are able to fundraise effectively and communicate with the electorate.
“By law it is already the responsibility of political parties to take all reasonable steps to verify the identity of a donor and whether they are permissible. The government will take any necessary steps to ensure those requirements are tightened and abided by.”
But MPs are pushing for further reforms to prevent wealthy foreigners, such as Elon Musk, from exploiting legal loopholes through subsidiaries.
Labour MP Lloyd Hatton said: “I fear that our unhealthy dependence on a handful of large donors also poses a risk of undue influence and capture by narrow vested interests. We know that of the £85 million of private donations made in 2023 alone, two thirds came from 19 mega-donors, each giving well over £1 million.
“Just recently, one would-be mega-donor dominated headlines for that very reason. Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and not a British citizen, was giving “serious thought” to donating millions of pounds to a British political party- Reform UK.
“As a South African-born billionaire who lives in the United States, Elon Musk cannot legally make a personal donation to a British political party, but, as we know, he could easily go through the UK subsidiaries of his various companies.”
Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed said: “If we do not want our politics to go the way of American politics, with British equivalents to the likes of Elon Musk and his fellow tech billionaires blatantly using money to buy influence and remake politics in their own interests, we need tighter regulation of political finance than we currently have, and full transparency for the public.”