'If he'll sing you happy birthday for 70 quid, just imagine what he'd do for £70m': Rayner savages Farage over crypto donor 'sugar daddies' at Labour conference

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026 · last updated 30 September 2026.

Angela Rayner used her Labour conference speech in Liverpool to savage Nigel Farage over the £72 million Reform UK received from crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne in a single 48-hour period this month. The Housing Secretary accused Farage of "falling at the feet" of vested interests, branding his mega-donors "crypto billionaire sugar daddies" who are not funding him to stand up for working people.

Rayner also skewered Farage over his Cameo earnings, mocking him for charging £70 a time for personalised birthday videos — a line that drew loud applause from delegates.

Christopher Harborne separately gave Farage a personal £5 million donation before the 2024 general election, which Farage failed to declare on entering the Commons and is now under investigation by parliament's standards commissioner.

Rayner also promised delegates Labour is "only just getting started" and must be "more impatient than ever" — striking a markedly more radical tone than the conference had heard so far.