Say what you want about Nigel Farage – but his sense of timing is nothing short of incredible. The Reform leader and some of his closest acolytes found themselves on the end of an undercover sting recently, with the investigative journalists from Verbatim releasing the footage on Thursday evening.
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The clips were aired by Channel 4, and showed a man masquerading as a wealthy foreign donor. He spoke with Dan Jukes, an aid to Nigel Farage, about trying to circumvent British electoral law in order to fund the party with a £500,000 donation – otherwise known as a ‘tenth-of-a-Harborne’.
Jukes’ enthusiasm for the illicit deal was matched by James Orr. Reform’s Head of Policy was also caught on camera entertaining the illegal proposal, and sure enough, Nigel Farage also ended up in a compromising situation, with secret cameras capturing his willingness to accept the deal.
Both Jukes and Orr have stepped down – yet Mr. Farage remains firmly in the firing line. He has since moved to dismiss the controversy, labelling it all as ‘loose pub talk’. Reform issued an official statement earlier, insisting that they have done nothing wrong or illegal as a party.
The whole affair has cast a dark shadow over Reform, with their party conference kicking off on Friday. Those hoping this will all blow over may well be in for a rude awakening, however, and attempts by frontbench MPs to play down the situation haven’t exactly landed well with the public so far.
On Wednesday, Nigel Farage cast his first vote in the House of Commons after the summer recess – and it’s a belter. He voted against the ‘Representation of the People Bill’ – which has specific provisions to ensure companies making donations in the UK make a genuine and positive contribution to the country.
Farage wasn’t the only Reform MP who voted to strike down the motion, and he was joined in a ‘No’ ballot by Richard Tice, Sarah Pochin, Andrew Rosindell, and Danny Kruger. James McMurdock, who was elected as a Reform candidate but has since lost the whip, also voted against the motion.
Information from the MPData website also shows that Nigel Farage voted against a specific amendment to the bill, tabled by the Liberal Democrats. The new clause proposed establishing a Royal Commission, to decide upon caps for political donations and assessing existing campaign expenditure limits.
Another clause in the Bill promises to ‘kick big money – foreign or domestic – out of British politics’. The recently re-elected MP did vote yes to two other amendments in this legislation – but these concerned overseas voters and non-English language campaign materials. On brand, to say the least..
