Farage Suspends 2 Aides Over £500,000 Reform Donation Sting as Police Weigh Full Probe
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 4
Farage Suspends 2 Aides Over £500,000 Reform Donation Sting as Police Weigh Full Probe
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 4
Summary
Two senior Farage aides — Dan Jukes and James Orr — were suspended at Reform UK’s Birmingham conference after undercover footage showed them discussing ways to route an ineligible US donor’s money to the party.
The footage alleged a US company paid more than £30,000 for polling that benefited Reform without being declared, and captured Jukes exploring whether a further £500,000 could pass through a UK intermediary.
Farage said the pair made a "human error," were unauthorized to fundraise and were only contractors engaged in "loose pub talk," while denying wrongdoing and calling the reports entrapment.
The Metropolitan Police are assessing a complaint that Farage, Orr and Jukes may have breached political funding laws, with a wider probe possible; Cambridge is also reviewing Orr’s conduct.
The scandal dominated Reform’s conference, deepened internal strains involving Zia Yusuf and eclipsed Farage’s planned push on migration and his speech after months of separate scrutiny over an undeclared £5 million gift.