Labour MP Emily Thornberry has called for tougher action to prevent wealthy individuals based overseas from financing British political parties, arguing that people who choose not to live and pay tax in the UK should not be able to exercise significant financial influence over its politics.
Writing for PoliticsHome, the Islington South and Finsbury MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee welcomed the Labour government’s plans to strengthen the rules around foreign financial influence but argued ministers should go further.
Thornberry said the government’s proposed £100,000 annual cap on political donations and regulated transactions from overseas electors was an important step, but called instead for overseas donations to be prohibited altogether.
In a post promoting her article on X, she said:
“No cap, no Royal Commission discussions, we must just ban foreign influence in our politics – and get on with it – now.”
She added that people who “choose to move their wealth abroad” and no longer contribute financially to the country “should lose the right to be a political donor”.
Thornberry proposes tougher amendments
The government has already committed to amendments to the Representation of the People Bill following the independent Rycroft Review into foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics.
Those measures include an annual £100,000 cap on donations from overseas electors and a moratorium on political donations made using cryptocurrency. The government has also said returning overseas electors would remain subject to the cap until they had been resident back in Britain for a full calendar year.
Thornberry said she supported the direction of the reforms, particularly the restrictions on cryptocurrency, but believes ministers should adopt a considerably tougher position.
She has proposed New Clause 85 to the Bill, which she says would ban overseas political donations altogether.
Thornberry wrote that people who are not prepared to pay their taxes in Britain or contribute towards services including the NHS and schools should not be able to use wealth accumulated while living overseas to bankroll UK political parties.
‘I am not a dinosaur; I am just a democrat’
Thornberry also backed restrictions on cryptocurrency donations, arguing that the difficulty of establishing the ultimate source of some crypto funds creates an unacceptable risk to political transparency.
She wrote:
“I am not a dinosaur; I am just a democrat.”
The government’s planned moratorium would prevent political donations using cryptoassets until Parliament and the Electoral Commission are satisfied that regulation provides sufficient transparency and confidence in the system. That approach was recommended by the Rycroft Review and has also received backing from Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.
Thornberry suggested that she would prefer the restriction to become permanent rather than eventually being lifted.
Closing another potential loophole
Thornberry is also proposing New Clause 86, aimed at people returning to Britain who benefit from the Foreign Income and Gains regime.
The regime provides eligible new UK residents with relief on certain foreign income and gains during their first four years of UK tax residence.
Thornberry argues that anyone benefiting from those arrangements should, during that period, also be prevented from making political donations.
Her argument is that political influence and financial contribution to British society should go together.
She wrote that where someone chooses to reduce their contribution to public services, “you reduce the contribution you make as a whole to our country and our democracy”.
Labour moves to strengthen political finance rules
The wider government package follows Philip Rycroft’s independent review of foreign financial interference, commissioned in December 2025.
The government subsequently accepted the review’s recommendations and has announced further safeguards, including stronger donor checks, tougher rules around company donations and increased Electoral Commission enforcement powers.
Thornberry said the reforms offered Labour an opportunity to address declining public confidence in politics.
Concluding her intervention, she argued that removing questionable overseas money from the political system could form part of rebuilding public trust.
She wrote: “We can start to rebuild that trust by getting dodgy foreign cash out of our politics once and for all.”
The Representation of the People Bill is set to return to the Commons this week, where Thornberry’s proposals and the government’s wider package of political finance reforms are expected to form part of the debate.
