TWO senior Reform UK officials have stepped down after Channel 4 News broadcast an undercover report on party funding, with an internal investigation now underway, media reports said.
Dan Jukes, a senior aide to leader Nigel Farage, and James Orr, Reform's head of policy, have both stood down pending the outcome of the probe, the party confirmed.
A Reform UK spokesman said, "The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice.
"No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing."
Timing could hardly be worse for the party, with the row threatening to overshadow its conference in Birmingham, which holds its first full day on Friday (4), the BBC reported.
What the footage showed?
Undercover filming aired on Thursday (3) night showed Jukes suggesting a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000 for the party.
Verbatim Investigations, a group founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting, carried out the filming. Channel 4 News said it verified the material before broadcasting it.
Footage from a lunch in Clacton, Essex, showed a reporter posing as a UK-based son and an actor posing as his supposedly American father, sitting opposite Jukes and Farage.
Farage tells the pair "it's all above board" after being informed that discussions with Jukes and Orr had been under way for some time. "I'll be the registered donor," the son says, "but then dad will send the money to me... the money is available." Farage responds: "Thank you. Well, both of you. Thank you."
Under electoral law, a permissible donor must be a UK registered voter or a UK-registered company — meaning the son, but not the father, could legally give.
Separately, Orr is said to have suggested the father fund opinion polling for Reform, with the bill sent to the undercover reporter. Channel 4 News said Reform commissioned three polls totalling £32,500 without disclosing who paid for them.
Denials and disagreement
Reform has rejected the claims, saying it had "been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded climate change activists."
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have reported the party to the Metropolitan Police, which said it would assess the matter.
Reform chairman Lee Anderson told Sky News that there was "no chance" of Jukes and Orr returning.
Minutes later, deputy leader Richard Tice told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "it's not actually, in the nicest possible way, for any individual to make that determination" while the investigation continues.
