Key facts
- Reform UK has developed increasingly close ties with the United Arab Emirates.
- The UAE has a human rights record that draws scrutiny.
- Reform UK has an anti-immigration stance.
- Nigel Farage previously criticized the UAE.
- Nigel Farage has since praised the UAE.
- Nigel Farage suggested learning from the UAE's development.
- Nigel Farage is contesting a special election in Clacton.
- Farage faces 33 opponents in the Clacton election.
- Count Binface is one of Farage's opponents in Clacton.
- The Clacton election is seen as a test of Farage's populist politics.
- There is scrutiny over a large undeclared donation to Reform UK.
Nigel Farage's Reform UK party has cultivated increasingly close ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a development that has attracted significant scrutiny. This relationship is particularly noteworthy given the UAE's human rights record and Reform UK's prominent anti-immigration platform. Farage himself has undergone a notable shift in his public stance towards the UAE; he was previously critical of the nation but has since publicly praised it. He has also suggested that the UK could learn from the UAE's development strategies.