TUC general secretary Paul Nowak rejected comparisons between billionaire donations to Reform UK and trade union funding of Labour today.

Mr Nowak said there is a “world of difference” between “a care worker or someone working in a car plant or a distribution centre putting in a few quid a year through their union” and the £72 million gifted Reform by cryptocurrency billionaires Ben Delo and Chris Harborne.

“These are the biggest donations in British political history,” he said of Reform’s windfall, “and effectively aimed at buying and selling our democracy.”

The influx of such sums of cash risked “Americanisation” of British politics, he warned.

In contrast to the shadowy Reform donors, “unions are open, democratic organisations” whose policies are in the public domain and whose decisions whether or not to fund political parties are decided democratically.

Mr Nowak said the TUC had no settled policy on capping political donations but that affiliates would be discussing the implications of the huge sums handed to Reform for British democracy.