Reform Inquiry Clears Staff Over Undercover Donations Sting

Reform UK did not break any laws when senior party figures were recorded by undercover journalists discussing a £500,000 gift from a foreign donor, an internal investigation has concluded. The Telegraph has the story.

A 27-page report, commissioned by Reform, after a Channel 4 investigation into funding also cleared the party of wrongdoing over the funding of three opinion polls.

Reform UK intends to take “aggressive legal action” against the group of undercover journalists behind the documentary.

Channel 4 claimed in a programme broadcast last month that the party had breached political donation rules.

Reform was alleged to have taken funding from a US firm for three polls it had commissioned earlier this year, costing £32,500.

A senior aide to Nigel Farage, the party leader, was also filmed discussing the possibility of a £500,000 foreign donation.

The purported donors were in fact undercover reporters from Verbatim, an investigative group, posing as an American financier and his UK-based son.

Foreign companies are not a permissible source of funding for parties, including payments for studies and research. Accepting donations from them could constitute a criminal offence.

The claims overshadowed Reform UK’s annual party conference and remain under investigation by police and the British Polling Council.

Reform’s internal report “does not excuse” the “foolish” way in which two senior party figures discussed donations and polling with an undercover reporter, and the party says it has taken steps to tighten its internal governance as a result.

Farage will be hoping that the internal investigation carried out by Adam Richardson, Reform’s barrister, and Tom Waterhouse, the party’s general secretary, will help to convince external investigators that what he described as “pub talk” did not stray into illegality.

An actor employed by Verbatim Investigations, which was founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting, recorded conversations with Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage, and James Orr, Reform’s Head of Policy, appearing to discuss how the party could get around electoral law to accept a £500,000 donation from an American supporter.

According to Channel 4, Jukes suggested that the donation could be made via the UK-based son of the American, disguising the true source of the money, which would be a breach of political party funding rules.

The internal report states that: “Nothing was agreed, no donations were made and no formal position was presented to the party’s finance team, and nothing was accepted. The party’s procedures for checking the identity of a donor and the source of funds were never engaged, because nothing reached them.”

Orr told the undercover actor: “If there’s a non-trivial chance of you guys directly giving a… five or six-figure sum, then we could do a lunch with Nigel.”

The documentary implied that this meant the donor was being offered the chance to buy a meeting with Farage.

The report says “the words used were unwise”, but insists that “they were not a price”.

Jukes was recorded discussing supporters of the party who had given money through their children, which would be a breach of party funding rules.

However, Jukes has insisted “he simply invented circumstances for the purposes of not derailing the conversation” and that it was “foolish, loose talk” on his behalf, which he regrets.

The investigation “found no basis for the suggestion that any supporter of the party has given in the way described”.

Worth reading in full.