Key facts
- Two senior aides to Nigel Farage, Dan Jukes and James Orr, have been suspended amid a scandal over foreign donations.
- An undercover investigation by Verbatim revealed attempts to channel impermissible foreign funds into the Reform UK party.
- The Metropolitan Police are assessing evidence following a complaint that political funding laws may have been broken.
- Nigel Farage appeared to endorse a scheme to receive funds from a fake US businessman via a UK intermediary.
- The scandal has exposed internal disunity within Reform UK and overshadowed its party conference.
Nigel Farage sought to manage a damaging scandal over questionable foreign donation practices at the Reform UK party conference, leading to the suspension of two senior aides, Dan Jukes and James Orr.
An undercover investigation by reporters from Verbatim revealed that Jukes and Orr had apparently plotted to evade laws on foreign donations, attempting to channel funds from a fake US businessman into the party. Farage acknowledged that Jukes and Orr had made "human error" and were "not authorised" to act as they did.
The Metropolitan Police are now assessing evidence following a complaint that Farage, Orr, and Jukes may have broken political funding laws. Both Jukes and Orr deny wrongdoing. Orr, an associate professor of divinity at the University of Cambridge, has agreed to step down pending an internal investigation. Jukes, Farage's closest aide for over a decade, stated the investigation was "entrapment" using selective editing.
Farage introduced the fake US donor, who had promised £500,000, to the undercover reporter. He appeared to endorse a scheme where the money would be given through a UK intermediary, stating "thank you, both" and "all above board." The scandal overshadowed the party's conference, with every Reform politician questioned about the allegations. It also exposed internal divisions, with home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf distancing himself from the suspended aides.
Farage dismissed the sting as a "hoax" and "a little local difficulty," describing the reports as "an exercise in entrapment." He claimed Orr and Jukes were merely "contractors" engaging in "loose pub talk." He also suggested that a suggestion by Jukes about other foreign donations being channelled through intermediaries was untrue.
The undercover footage showed Orr and Jukes helping to orchestrate an impermissible donation of £30,000 from the fake US donor, which was used to pay for polling that benefited Reform. This money was transferred to a polling company after being organised at Reform's behest and was not declared to the Electoral Commission.
Farage's keynote speech was delayed by protesters and focused on calls for a general election and accusations against Labour. He also hinted at potentially reviewing the system of judicial appointments in the future.