𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Nigel Farage has admitted that the undercover sting into Reform UK donations “looks bad”.

The Reform leader denied wrongdoing after a report by Channel 4 News showed senior party figures discussing how to disguise donations from foreign sources.

In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Farage acknowledged that the comments by James Orr and Dan Jukes were “injudicious at best”.

He added: “This looks bad, as does the sale of peerages, as does government contracts for donations. We are not the first people to be involved in a row over donations.”

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.

Mr Jukes, who denies wrongdoing, and head of policy Mr Orr, have been suspended pending an internal investigation.

Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s treasury spokesman, said lessons will be learnt from the scandal which overshadowed the Party’s conference in Birmingham.

He said: “We’re going to investigate exactly what happened. It’s right to have due process. But this is not the way that Reform conducts itself.

“Like any political party, we seek to abide by the law at all times, and we believe we have in this case. In fact, I’ve reviewed the legal advice from the KC who’s advised the party in the last 48 hours, and it shows that, yeah, we did. But do we want for the best version of ourselves. Yes, absolutely. And no doubt there will be lessons to be learnt from this. But we do have a strong compliance department and in fact we turn away donations all the time from people who are impermissible.”

The footage broadcast by Channel 4 was part of an investigation by members of undercover group Verbatim, who posed as an American donor and his son who had paid for polling allegedly commissioned by Reform and were seeking to channel money to the party.

Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, Mr Farage said he knew “donation law better than anybody” and said Mr Jukes and Mr Orr “should have done basic checks” before bringing potential donors to meet him.

He also said he “frankly wasn’t even listening” during a meeting with the undercover reporters in Clacton, adding: “I was told there was a global family office based in London, so the money could have come from Singapore.

“The money could come from all over the world, you know. Income could have come from all over the world into a family office based in London.”

Meanwhile the Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said allegations that Reform UK has breached political donation rules should be investigated by police.

Speaking on Times Radio on Sunday morning, Mr Griffith was asked about Mr Farage’s denial that his party had broken any laws.

Mr Griffith said: “Look, the financing of political parties is incredibly important. There’s a lot of rules and regulations around that.

“Why? Because our democracy isn’t for sale, and it’s important to know transparently how these things are being done.”

Mr Griffith added he and Kemi Badenoch watched footage published as part of the Channel 4 News investigation, and continued: “Kemi said that warrants grounds for a police investigation, so that should take place.

“And as a leader, you cannot absolve yourself on matters that are so important. You can’t just dismiss that when it comes to electoral funding.”