Nigel Farage defends himself over foreign donation claims

Nigel Farage sought to rebut allegations Reform had breached laws on political donations during his party conference address. The annual gathering at Birmingham's NEC became overshadowed by fresh claims about party funding after Channel 4 aired footage reportedly showing senior Reform figures discussing how to conceal donations from foreign donors.

Verbatim, an undercover group, posed as an American donor and his son to gather evidence of the alleged scheme. Accepting donations from foreign entities, including in-kind donations like polling, could potentially be a criminal offense, leading to the party being reported to the police. The Liberal Democrats also requested the parliamentary standards watchdog to probe the allegations.

Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage, and James Orr, the party's head of policy, stepped down pending an internal investigation into their appearance in the footage. Jukes denied wrongdoing and accused the undercover reporters of "entrapment". Farage repeatedly assured the audience that the party had not broken any laws and dismissed Jukes's comments as "loose pub talk" that included "a couple of boasts that simply were not true".

In his speech, he claimed Reform had been "the subject of a highly coordinated campaign of attacks" by an "ecosystem" built around Labour and the Conservatives over the past century. Farage vowed to not be distracted by the allegations and reiterated that Reform had broken no laws, asserting that they take compliance extremely seriously.