UK's Farage dismisses foreign donations claim as "loose pub talk"

Nigel Farage has dismissed suggestions that the Reform UK party had previously taken disguised foreign donations as "loose pub talk" that "simply were not true" as he sought to move on from allegations about the party's finances.

Reform's head of policy James Orr and long-serving Farage aide 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.

Accepting donations from a foreign company, including donations in kind such as polling, could constitute a criminal offence, and the party has been reported to the police.

But Farage has insisted "nothing illegal" had happened, while Jukes has denied any wrongdoing and said it was a case of entrapment.

Speaking to reporters at the Reform party conference in Birmingham on Friday, Farage again denied that his party had broken any laws or taken any illegal money.

But he acknowledged that comments by Orr and Jukes were "injudicious at best".

Asked about footage recorded by undercover reporters in which Jukes appeared to say they had previously disguised donations from foreign sources, Farage said the claims were "loose pub talk, including a couple of boasts that simply were not true".

He added: "So in the video, when he says we've done it with X, we've done it with Y. Well, the reason that Channel 4 haven't broadcast the names of X and Y is because it isn't true.

"Donations from the names that were mentioned have not occurred, don't exist…in our accounts."

Farage made his comments at a press conference alongside French National Rally president Jordan Bardella after the pair had announced an agreement to co-operate on stopping small boat crossings in the Channel if their respective parties came to power.

But the agreement, announced ahead of Farage's speech to the Reform conference, has been overshadowed by allegations that senior figures in the party discussed concealing the origin of funding from a foreign donor.

Rival parties 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.

The Electoral Commission has said it is "considering all relevant information" and has contacted the Metropolitan Police.

Both Farage and Jukes have accused the reporters of "entrapment".

Farage also sought to distance himself from Jukes and Orr, dismissing them as "contractors that work for us, who've said…some injudicious things at best".

However, he acknowledged his close relationship with Jukes, who had been one of his long-serving aides.

Asked whether the loss of Jukes upset him, Farage told reporters: "I don't like it at all. I've worked with Dan very closely for many, many years. Many, many years."

Although a more recent addition to Reform's team, Orr had been the party's head of policy since February this year.

By Christopher McKeon, Sophie Wingate, Harry Taylor and Abbie Llewelyn, Press Association Political Staff

source: PA

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