Donations to Political Parties

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Grand Committee

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, on securing this debate. I will highlight what I regard as an unacceptable anomaly in the current laws on donations to political parties seeking election throughout the United Kingdom.

Noble Lords will be aware of the list of permissible funding sources for political parties in Great Britain. However, not all your Lordships may know that there is an additional list of sources for political parties in Northern Ireland, and it is quite extensive. The list includes Irish citizens, most Irish-registered companies, trade unions, building societies, friendly societies and, most importantly, Irish-registered political parties.

The consequence of this means that, while foreign political donations are barred in Great Britain, foreign money can and does enter United Kingdom politics through Northern Ireland. This list of additional sources specifically for parties in Northern Ireland was, of course, compiled to satisfy the insatiable demands of Sinn Féin/IRA.

The republican movement has never been short of cash, regularly funded throughout the Troubles and since by protection rackets and bank robberies, including the Northern Bank raid in central Belfast, which added some £26.5 million to Sinn Féin/IRA coffers more than six and a half years after the signing of the Good Friday agreement. However, much of this funding has come from the United States of America, most notably from an organisation known as Friends of Sinn Féin.

According to a recent article in the Irish Times, in the six months to October last year, Friends of Sinn Féin recorded more than $57,000 in donations, including almost $19,000 from a trust set up by an Arizona woman who died in 2020. Since 2022, Friends of Sinn Féin has received more than $440,000 from this trust. Last year, the Belfast Telegraph reported that another front group, Friends of Sinn Féin (Canada), donated some $14,000. That matters, because I am sure no noble Lord believes that Sinn Féin/IRA records the cash it receives.

The current anomaly in party funding affects politics not only in Northern Ireland but in Westminster. There are currently seven Sinn Féin/IRA MPs entitled to take their seats in the other place, but they refuse to do so. However, their election prospects were undoubtedly boosted by foreign money supporting their campaign. I simply ask the Minister how and why it is acceptable that current UK law relating to funding includes a carve-up designated to assist one political party. There can be no justification for it and that anomaly should be removed.