I would like to thank you, and the Committee as a whole, for your report on political finance and foreign influence and the considered analysis of the issues in this space that it set out. My colleagues and I welcome the Committee’s recommendations on strengthening governance, resourcing and investigatory powers for law enforcement and public bodies countering political finance crimes, introducing a moratorium on crypto donations, tightening political finance rules and increasing sentencing to strengthen our deterrent against bad actors. As you will know, the Government takes attempts by any country to intervene in democratic processes very seriously. It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes from foreign interference, including through political finance. In December last year, I commissioned Philip Rycroft to review the safeguards in place to address foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The resulting review raised a number of similar themes to the JCNSS report, particularly around introducing a moratorium on crypto donations, placing an annual cap on the total value of donations an overseas elector may make, strengthening investigation and enforcement through the creation of a police centre of excellence, amending Section 54A of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), and reducing the burden of proof for financial criminal offences. The Government’s response to these recommendations has been published today and is available here: The Rycroft Review: HM Government response. The Government’s enclosed response addresses each of the Joint Committee’s recommendations in turn, setting out the actions we are taking to strengthen safeguards across our political finance system against the multitude of risks we face, including from foreign interference and illicit money.