But we need a party that represents the working class
Adam Gillman, South east London socialist party
The Labour government has announced plans that would put a cap of £100,000 on donations to political parties from British people living overseas and ban cryptocurrency donations. While it was proposed using the justification that the political situation is being protected, the impact this has on Reform UK’s funding streams will be a welcome bonus to Keir Starmer’s embattled party.
Despite Farage claiming Reform UK is the “party of the workers”, looking at their donations tells a different story. In the last year, for example they have received £12 million from a cryptocurrency entrepreneur Christopher Harborne, based in Thailand. Reform appeals to the anger in society against the rotten Labour government but defends the same capitalist system that exploits workers and leaves us all poorer.
These new measures won’t stop the super-rich dominating politics and funding parties that will rule in their interests and attack the working class. And that includes Starmer’s Labour!
Labour’s big business funders
In the run up to the last general election the Labour Party received £2.5 million from Lord Sainsbury, former chairman of the retail giant Sainsbury’s. In 2024, big business donated £12 million to the Labour Party in 2024 – the year of the general election. In the first year of Starmer’s government, contracts worth £138 million were given to companies which donated to Labour, according to a report by the Autonomy Institute. Big business funding has slowed down but is still coming at the same time as the government attempts to cut our schools, NHS, libraries and other services.
Members of trade unions that also donate large amounts of money, on the basis that Labour is supposed to represents workers’ interests, are increasingly asking questions of: is it worth it? In the last month, Unite the Union cut funding to Labour by 40%, after Birmingham Labour council attempts to break a strike of Birmingham bin workers fighting against a pay cut of £8,000 for many members! These attacks on Unite members sparked the emergency motion passed at its 2025 conference to reassess the union’s relationship with the Labour Party.
Pro-capitalist parties are funded by the uber-rich to further their interests, so we need a party of our own through which we can fight for the interests of the working-class majority. We need a party that’s run by the working class and its organisations, like the trade unions, able to run the party democratically. Funding should come from workers and the trade unions – not big business – so we can fight against austerity and attacks by representatives of capitalism. The Socialist Party is fighting for a new mass workers’ party armed with a socialist programme including a programme of new good-quality and environmentally friendly council houses, good-quality free education and a health service with the resources needed for patients and staff. The resources are there for this and more, but is currently held by a super-rich few, who use anything at their disposal to maintain their position at the top. We need to break their power by taking that wealth into democratic public ownership with workers’ control and management.
