Labour is pushing the Gambling Commission to investigate two companies linked to Reform UK donors and allies of Nigel Farage, amid claims they may have been operating without the proper licences.
Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s party chair, has written directly to the watchdog asking it to look into the matter. The letter names two firms at the centre of the allegations: Tether.bet, a gambling company based in Montenegro, and Fispay, a UK-registered business owned by Reform’s own data protection officer, Mowbray Jackson.
Phillipson’s letter asks the Commission to examine whether Tether.bet, along with whoever was running it, offered or advertised remote gambling services to people in the UK without holding the required licence to do so. She also wants investigators to look at whether Fispay, or any other UK company connected to the situation, provided or supported gambling services to British consumers without the correct authorisation.
The Gambling Commission is the official regulator for the gambling industry in England and Wales. Any company offering gambling products or services to UK customers is legally required to hold a licence from the Commission, regardless of where the company itself is based. Operating without one is a serious offence and can result in significant penalties.
The allegations put Reform UK in an uncomfortable position. The party has positioned itself as an anti-establishment force, but questions about the backgrounds and business dealings of those in its orbit have been surfacing with increasing regularity. Farage and Reform have built much of their public image around transparency and calling out what they describe as a corrupt political class, making scrutiny of their own financial connections particularly pointed.
Tether.bet’s Montenegro base does not shield it from UK gambling law if it was actively targeting British customers. The key legal question is whether the platform was accessible to and used by people in the UK, and whether it was promoted here. If the Commission finds evidence that it was, the lack of a UK licence would be a clear breach of the rules.
Fispay’s situation is arguably more straightforward to investigate given it is a UK-registered company. The fact that it is owned by someone serving as Reform’s data protection officer adds a direct line between the party and the firm in question.
Labour has been careful to frame its intervention as a regulatory matter rather than a purely political attack, with Phillipson directing her concerns to the independent watchdog rather than making the allegations herself. But the timing and targeting of the letter make clear that the party sees political value in pressing the issue.
Reform UK has not yet responded publicly to the specifics of the letter. The Gambling Commission has not confirmed whether it will open a formal investigation.
The story adds to a broader pattern of scrutiny around Reform’s donor network and the people operating in its inner circle. As the party continues to grow in the polls and position itself as a serious political force ahead of future elections, questions about who is funding it and how those individuals conduct their business affairs are unlikely to go away.
For now, the ball is in the Gambling Commission’s court. Whether it decides to act on Labour’s request could determine how much further this particular story runs.