'No illegal transaction occurred' and top aides were 'entrapped': Farage breaks silence on Reform UK foreign funding sting
Nigel Farage has told LBC that Reform has done “nothing wrong” after two party officials were caught accepting foreign donations in an undercover sting.
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Speaking to LBC on Friday, the Reform UK leader desperately sought to deny wrongdoing as he insisted everything was “above board".
He insisted there was “nothing illegal” about his officials accepting overseas donations for three polls commissioned earlier this year - despite rival parties including the Lib Dems reporting Reform to the police over the claims.
“The party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that", he told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast.
Senior aide to Farage Dan Jukes and Reform's Head of Policy, James Orr both left their roles over the sting.
Farage said: "This is a massive sting operation. It must have cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, all foreign funded, by the way.
Read more: Two senior Reform UK officials step down after undercover sting over foreign donations
Read more: Reform UK reported to police after Channel 4 'foreign donation' sting investigation
"We talk about foreign money interfering in British politics. Well, that's exactly what this was in every way. And they worked at it and worked at it. And they managed to get a couple of our contractors to say things that look, on the face of it, injudicious."
He insisted the pair had to be go because they pair became 'entrapped', adding that he had "absolutely no idea" until the story emerged in the press.
"It’s a clear case of entrapment, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said. They have been removed this morning. I’m not happy about it," he said.
He said attempts to stitch people up and sting people "goes on the whole time".
"We will not be distracted by it", Mr Farage told Nick.
In the sting operation, Mr Jukes was filmed meeting a man posing as the British-based son of a rich American businessman in an undercover report by Channel 4.
Mr Orr was also filmed meeting an undercover reporter to discuss party funding.
Mr Jukes told the undercover reporter that the donation for polling, seemingly paid to the consultancy JL Partners, was an “amazing sweet spot” that allowed the polls to be paid for without showing up in the “public records”.
Mr Orr said in the film that details of the arrangement would be kept at arm’s length from Nigel Farage.
He said: “I wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anybody. Nigel doesn’t know, won’t know. It’s the kind of thing he would rather not know.”
Rival parties have reported Reform to the police over the claims they took funding from a US firm for three polls it commissioned earlier this year costing £32,500.
But Mr Farage insisted: "There's nothing illegal in that whatsoever... Polling can be paid for by anybody provided it is put into the public domain."
"Nothing has happened. No illegal transaction has occurred," he said, adding: "I've got strong KC's opinion on that, and there's plenty of precedent too. Nothing. Whilst the poll benefited Reform, it wasn't commissioned by Reform."
He added: "The issue is when they talked about putting money that might have come from America, that’s why. That clearly can’t be done under electoral law. It didn’t happen so no laws have been broken. We are going to investigate it. On the face of it, they said things that shouldn’t have been said.
"These are not elected officials, but someone who has worked with me for many years, but never involved in fundraising. That’s why we’ve done what we’ve done.
"We will not be distracted by it. We threaten the whole establishment ecosystem which has been in power for 100 years. They don’t want a new political party, a new set of faces coming in and taking over. No illegal transaction has occurred.”
But Bob Posner, former chief of the Electoral Commission, told LBC that he "didn't see entrapment", which is where "people who wouldn't do something unlawful" become "trapped".
"What I saw was people willing to break the law", he told Nick.
He said the UK doesn't permit overseas funding into our elections and our democracy.
"You have to have a sufficient connection with the UK to make donations," Mr Posner said.
"The purpose of it is that when we have our elections we the voters shouldn't be influenced by anything other than money in politics that should be there from UK-sourced donors," he added.
He said it is "proper" that the police should look into that mater- as it emerged this is being considering, adding that we "all want questions answered".
A Met Police spokesman said: "We’re aware of media reporting involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling.
We will assess this matter and any information provided to us.”Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson has called on Mr Farage and his team to “urgently prove” that they had not “broken the law and secretly plotted to undermine our democracy”.
In a letter to the Metropolitan Police, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart said the allegations raised “alarming questions about whether there has been a wider complacency toward foreign interference by the individuals involved”.
An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: "We are considering all relevant information, in line with our regulatory remit, and we are in touch with the Met Police.
"The Electoral Commission has not approved the donor vetting process for Reform, or any other party. Parties are responsible for ensuring their internal processes and controls are fit for purpose. "We provide advice and guidance to political parties on how to comply with electoral law.
“The law requires political parties to report all permissible donations they accept with a value over £11,180 and all impermissible donations over £500.
“Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider."
Reform has denied any wrongdoing and insisted it has a “robust vetting process” for donors.
Channel 4’s report comes as Reform members gather in Birmingham for the party’s annual conference, billed as setting out the party’s plans for its first 100 days in office should it win the next election.
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.
Meanwhile, party deputy leader Richard Tice is expected to promise to cut environmental levies from energy bills when he makes his own address to the conference on Friday.
While last year’s Reform conference saw the party enjoying a commanding lead in the polls, its position has slipped in recent months amid questions about its finances and a Clacton by-election boycotted by other parties.
Since Andy Burnham came to power in July, several polls have seen Labour regain a narrow lead over Reform, while a YouGov survey earlier this week found six in 10 Britons feel Reform is untrustworthy.
Mr Farage himself remains under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over his failure to declare a £5 million gift from a Thai-based cryptocurrency billionaire prior to his election in 2024.
The Reform leader has insisted the donation was not declarable, claiming it did not relate to his political activities.
Verbatim Investigations said: "Our undercover investigation was carried out to the highest journalistic standards. As the footage shows, the plots we exposed were proposed by Mr Jukes and Mr Orr, not by our journalists.
"Our reporting also clearly shows that Mr. Jukes and Mr. Orr were integral to Reform's operations, as is widely known in Westminster."