Nigel Farage says Reform UK has ‘broken no laws’ as aides quit amid allegations

James Orr and Dan Jukes have stepped down and the party has launched an investigation following allegations they breached political donation rules.

Nigel Farage denied that Reform UK had broken any laws or “taken any dodgy money” as two party officials stood down amid allegations the party breached political donation rules.

James Orr and Dan Jukes have stepped down and the party has launched an investigation following allegations they breached political donation rules by having polling paid for by an overseas company.

But Mr Farage insisted “nothing illegal” had happened.

Rival parties had reported Reform to the police over claims by Channel 4 News that Reform took funding from a US firm for three polls it commissioned earlier this year, costing £32,500.

The purported donors that appeared in the footage broadcast on Thursday night were in fact undercover reporters from investigative group Verbatim posing as an American financier and his UK-based son.

Foreign companies are not a permissible source of funding for parties, including for payments for studies and research, and accepting donations from them could constitute a criminal offence.

Reform announced it had launched an investigation on Friday morning following the broadcast.

A spokesperson said: “Both individuals involved have stepped down from their respective positions pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice. No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing.”

Speaking to LBC, Mr Farage insisted “nothing illegal” had happened.

“The party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever.

“However, it is a clear case of entrapment, and they worked at it for a very, very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said.

“And as a result of that, you know, they have been removed this morning. And yeah, you know, I’m not happy about it.”

He said the polls in question were commissioned by an independent third party, rather than Reform.

“It had nothing to do with Reform. It was an independent third party that did it. So that’s nothing. That’s nothing. Polls are funded by overseas people every single week. Every single week.”

He said the reason the two Reform aides had stepped aside was because they talked about “putting money in that might have originally have come from America”.

“That clearly can’t be done under electoral law. Now it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen. So no laws have been broken. And yes, they were entrapped into saying what they said.

“But you know we’re going to investigate it, but on the face of it, they said things that shouldn’t have been said,” he said.

It comes as Reform is gathering its members in Birmingham for the party’s annual conference.

Party chairman and Ashfield MP Lee Anderson said there was “no chance” that Mr Orr, the party’s head of policy and Mr Jukes, a close aide to Mr Farage, would return to the party.

But Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice, MP for Boston and Skegness, did not rule out the possibility, saying “let’s wait and see”.

Mr Anderson told Sky News: “There’s no chance of them coming back. They’ve stepped aside.

“You know, we’re a serious party, you know, and sometimes in politics, you have to make tough decisions, harsh decisions.”

But Mr Tice dismissed this, saying: “It’s not actually, in the nicest possible way, for any individual to make that determination until the investigation (finishes).”

Mr Tice denied that the party broke any laws regarding allegations about impermissible donations, telling the BBC that no money and no benefit in kind was received.

“We’ve got a KC’s opinion that makes clear no rules have been broken,” he said.

Mr Farage is expected to give the first of his two conference speeches on Friday afternoon, in which he will promise to declare a “national emergency” on his first day in government, introducing a flood of legislation and doing “anything and everything” to deliver his party’s policies.

He will say: “Within days of winning the general election, we will introduce dozens of Bills and force Parliament to sit all through summer for seven days a week to pass them.

“Britain is in serious trouble. We don’t have time to wait around to fix it.”

The two-day conference in Birmingham is expected to hear from other senior Reform figures setting out their own pledges for their first 100 days in office, as well as an address from Jordan Bardella, leader of the French National Rally.

Mr Farage is expected to announce that any frontbenchers who fail to deliver on their pledges “will be sacked”.

He is also due to make his own promise to focus on reducing the cost of living and lead on efforts to end small boat crossings in the Channel.