Angela Rayner has warned Reform UK that its record £72m fundraising haul from two cryptocurrency billionaires could be caught by retrospective rules being pushed through parliament.

The housing secretary said new restrictions on political donations from Britons living abroad, or those who have recently returned to the UK, would be backdated as ministers seek to close what she described as loopholes in election funding.

Her comments follow crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne each handing Nigel Farage’s party £36m in the space of 24 hours – jointly the largest individual donations to…