Summary

  • Two senior officials have stepped down from Reform UK after a Channel 4 News report prompts the party to investigate claims about its funding

  • Undercover filming, broadcast by the outlet, shows Nigel Farage's senior aide Dan Jukes suggesting a way to get around electoral law to secure a £500,000 foreign donation for Reform

  • Jukes and the party's head of policy James Orr have stepped down pending the outcome of the internal probe

  • Reform has denied any wrongdoing and says it has "been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded climate change activists"

  • The row comes as Farage is due to speak at the party's conference in Birmingham later today

Watch: Undercover reporters posing as party donors meet with Nigel Farage

Live Reporting

Edited by Imogen James

  1. What did the Channel 4 report show?

    In the Channel 4 report, which aired on Thursday night, undercover filming showed Nigel Farage's senior aide, Dan Jukes, suggesting a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000 for Reform.

    The undercover filming was carried out by a group called Verbatim Investigations, which was founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting. Channel 4 News say they have verified the material they were given and chose to broadcast.

    The footage includes a discussion over a lunch, where a reporter posed as a UK-based son and an actor pretended to be his American father. Opposite them are both Jukes and Nigel Farage.

    Farage says "it's all above board" after the son has told him he has been in discussions with both Jukes and Reform's policy chief, James Orr about the donation for some time.

    "I'll be the registered donor," the son says. "But then dad will send the money to me, and then as soon as that's done and all those conversations are had the money is available."

    "Thank you," Farage is heard saying.

    Electoral law sets out that to be a permissible donor to a UK political party you must be a UK registered voter, or a company registered in the UK. In this instance, the son would be a permissible donor, his father would not be.

    Here's a clip from the report:

    Watch: Undercover reporters posing as party donors meet with Nigel Farage

  2. Farage's senior aide and Reform's head of policy step down

    Reform UK says two of its senior officials have stepped down as the party launches an investigation into claims about funding aired during a Channel 4 News report.

    Nigel Farage's senior aide Dan Jukes and Reform's head of policy James Orr have both stood down pending the outcome of the internal probe, the party says.

    "The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice," it says in a statement.

    "No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing."

    In the Channel 4 News report, which aired on Thursday, undercover filming showed Jukes suggesting a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000 for the party.

    Reform has denied any wrongdoing and said it had "been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign funded climate change activists".