The Reform Party, War and Crypto
While the Labour Party is embroiled in scandal, the Reform Party also needs to clarify in whose interests it is acting.
You might recall a story that was doing the rounds some time ago about Boris Johnson’s intervention in the Ukraine crisis. In April 2022, Boris Johnson visited Ukraine to meet Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy. Johnson’s visit didn’t result in peace talks with Russia or a reinstatement of the principles of the Minsk agreements. Quite the opposite, as it turned out.
According to this Guardian article, “The idea that Johnson also used the visit to ensure Ukraine did not sign a peace agreement with Russia first emerged in an article in the respected Ukrainska Pravda outlet in May 2022, which said that Ukrainian and Russian negotiators had agreed on a broad possible agreement after a meeting in Istanbul in late March. A week later, Johnson arrived with a message that “Putin is a war criminal, he needs to be pressured, not negotiated with”, according to one of the outlet’s sources.”
Johnson resigned as Prime Minister in September 2022. But just 2 months later, Johnson’s office received a donation from a Thailand-based businessman called Christopher Harborne, the biggest shareholder of UK Defence company QinetiQ (through two of Harborne’s operating companies). The donation, of £1million, was one of the biggest donations ever to an individual UK politician. In January 2023, the Conservative government awarded a contract worth £80m to QinetiQ.
Johnson revisited Kiev in September 2023. But, this time, he was joined by the man who gave him £1m.
QinetiQ is actively involved in “supporting Ukraine’s defense efforts”, particularly through the provision of technology, training, and engineering support for military hardware.
Christopher Harborne became the biggest financial backers of the Reform Party, last year. He donated some £9m - although it’s not clear whether the donation was in fiat currency or cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, the donation dwarfs donations to the other UK political parties - even from hedge fund owners. The donation goes some way to explain why Reform Party apparatchiks, like Isabel Oakeshott, want to make it appear that Peter Mandelson was working for the Russians rather than the Israelis. Because, of course, Reform’s backers make a good return on the genocide in Gaza - and the war in Ukraine.
Harborne is also a big investor in Tether - the US dollar stablecoin company - controlling around 12% of the company behind the stablecoin (iFinex) - a company that makes vast profit, mostly on Treasury stock allegedly held to ‘back’ the Tether dollar tokens.
Meanwhile, Howard Lutnick, Jeffrey Epstein’s business partner and neighbour, and the man behind the Israel First White House team, and US Commerce Secretary, acted as banker and custodian for Tether when he was CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
In June 2024, Nigel Farage attended a high-profile London fundraiser for Donald Trump that raised $2.5 million. While Farage was in attendance to support the campaign, the event was co-hosted by Howard Lutnick.
Lutnick has been described as Tether’s most powerful U.S. ally. He did not create Tether but stepped in around 2021-2022 to prevent its collapse during a liquidity crisis, transforming it into a “crypto darling”.
Recent, DOJ-released documents (February 2026) show that Jeffrey Epstein had close ties with Brock Pierce, a co-founder of Tether. The documents also confirm that Lutnick and Epstein were business associates.
Clearly it’s significant that Reform is the recipient of funding and/or support from a major investor in Tether - and a UK military contractor active in both Ukraine and Israel - as well as Tether’s banker (Howard Lutnick via Cantor Fitzgerald). Tether is essentially being positioned as a private sector dollar ‘CBDC’. Moreover, it is ‘backed’ by US Treasury stock currently yielding over 4% - resulting in vast profits for Cantor Fitzgerald and iFinex. So it is helping to fund America’s vast debt pile - and associated dollar devaluation.
Howard Lutnick’s association with Epstein has resulted in calls for Lutnick’s resignation as US Commerce Secretary. So the Reform Party should make clear whether its relationship with Harborne is compatible with its requirement to support the UK’s sovereign currency (should it ever gain the reins of power). But, more fundamentally, the Reform Party needs to clarify whether if it is de facto ‘owned’ by a military contractor.