In the shifting terrain of democratic finance, the Burnham government has moved to close a legal opening that allowed two cryptocurrency billionaires — previously resident abroad — to direct £72 million toward Reform UK, a sum that would represent an unprecedented electoral advantage. The proposed Lords amendments would impose stricter residency requirements retroactively, placing the question of who may legitimately fund political life at the centre of British public debate. At stake is something older than any single party's fortunes: the question of whether democracy can remain a collective