Joe Pike
Political correspondent, reporting from Reform party conference

Image source, Getty Images

This story is moving pretty fast.

If we step back, the problem is that this is Reform UK's annual conference - the chance to change the agenda and perceptions about the party.

They want to talk about the first 100 days of a potential Reform UK government.

Nigel Farage wants to make his big speech, but instead, there are a lot of questions again about the party and its funding.

Alongside the lunch in which Farage and Dan Jukes discuss a £500,000 donation, Channel 4's report also shows a discussion over polling.

According to Channel 4, Reform's head of policy, James Orr, suggests to the undercover reporter that his American father could pay for opinion polling to aid Reform's campaigning.

The poll would cost £18,000 plus VAT – and Orr suggests the polling company could send the bill to the undercover reporter.

In all, Channel 4 News says Reform commissioned three polls costing £32,500 in total and that the public was not told who commissioned or funded them.

Not disclosing such funding would be illegal and accepting this kind of foreign funding would also be illegal.

Reform UK has denied any wrongdoing.

The Electoral Commission says it is "in touch" with the Metropolitan Police following Channel 4's broadcast.

"We are considering all relevant information, in line with our regulatory remit, and we are in touch with the Met Police," the organisation's says in a statement.

The statement adds that the Commission had not approved Reform's donor vetting process, as political parties are responsible for making sure 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," the statement says.

“Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider."

The Electoral Commission is an independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finances in the UK.

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Nigel Farage's senior aide Dan Jukes and Reform's head of policy James Orr have both stood down pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

James Orr was appointed Reform UK’s head of policy earlier this year.

He is an associate professor in the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University. Orr is also the UK chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Dan Jukes has served as a long-term media aide to Farage. Before joining Reform, Jukes was involved in the UKIP party, according to Prospect magazine.

Jukes said he denied wrongdoing and had "stepped back from politics in order to clear my name." The BBC has contacted Orr for a comment.

Image source, Reuters

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, Reuters

Nigel Farage's senior aide Dan Jukes has released a statement, after he stepped down from Reform UK following the release of the Channel 4 report.

“This was entrapment over a prolonged period of nearly a year by foreign-funded climate change activists," he says.

"I totally deny any wrongdoing but have stepped back from politics in order to clear my name.”

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have reported Reform to the Metropolitan Police over the allegations broadcast by Channel 4. The force said on Thursday it would assess the matter and any information provided to it.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the BBC that they are aware of the report "involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling".

It is understood the force has not begun an investigation.

In response to the report, the Electoral Commission says "information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider".

A spokesperson added: "The law requires political parties to report all permissible donations they accept with a value over £11,180 and all impermissible donations over £500."

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has insisted his party has "done nothing wrong" following the undercover investigation.

Speaking on LBC this morning, Farage says the recordings "don't look good, and that's why we've taken the action we have".

As we reported earlier, Reform says that it has launched an internal investigation and Dan Jukes and James Orr have stepped down pending its outcome.

They "said things that shouldn't have been said", Farage also tells LBC.

A Reform spokesman says the party believes its important the investigation is allowed to go ahead "independently and without prejudice".

In the Channel 4 report, which aired on Thursday night, undercover filming showed Nigel Farage's senior aide, Dan Jukes, suggesting a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000 for Reform.

The undercover filming was carried out by a group called Verbatim Investigations, which was founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting. Channel 4 News say they have verified the material they were given and chose to broadcast.

The footage includes a discussion over a lunch, where a reporter posed as a UK-based son and an actor pretended to be his American father. Opposite them are both Jukes and Nigel Farage.

Farage says "it's all above board" after the son has told him he has been in discussions with both Jukes and Reform's policy chief, James Orr about the donation for some time.

"I'll be the registered donor," the son says. "But then dad will send the money to me, and then as soon as that's done and all those conversations are had the money is available."

"Thank you," Farage is heard saying.

Electoral law sets out that to be a permissible donor to a UK political party you must be a UK registered voter, or a company registered in the UK. In this instance, the son would be a permissible donor, his father would not be.

Here's a clip from the report:

Reform UK says two of its senior officials have stepped down as the party launches an investigation into claims about funding aired during a Channel 4 News report.

Nigel Farage's senior aide Dan Jukes and Reform's head of policy James Orr have both stood down pending the outcome of the internal probe, the party says.

"The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice," it says in a statement.

"No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing."

In the Channel 4 News report, which aired on Thursday, undercover filming showed Jukes suggesting a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000 for the party.

Reform has denied any wrongdoing and said it had "been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign funded climate change activists".