Nigel Farage breaks silence as Reform rocked by undercover filming scandal
Nigel Farage denied Reform UK has broken any laws amid the latest finance row engulfing the party.
Two Reform officials, James Orr and Dan Jukes, have stepped down from their roles amid an investigation into allegations they breached political donation rules by having polling paid for by an overseas company.
It comes as the party faithful are gathering in Birmingham for Reform’s conference.
In an interview with LBC, Mr Farage said: “The party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever.
“However, it is a clear case of entrapment, and they worked at it for a very, very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said.
“And as a result of that, you know, they have been removed this morning. And yeah, you know, I’m not happy about it.”
He said the polls in question were commissioned by an independent third party rather than Reform.
The Brexiteer added: “It had nothing to do with Reform. It was an independent third party that did it. So that’s nothing. That’s nothing. Polls are funded by overseas people every single week. Every single week.”
He said the reason the two Reform aides had stepped aside was because they talked about “putting money in that might have originally have come from America”.
The Clacton MP said: “That clearly can’t be done under electoral law. Now it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen. So no laws have been broken. And yes, they were entrapped into saying what they said.
“But you know we’re going to investigate it, but on the face of it, they said things that shouldn’t have been said.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)
Rival parties had reported Reform to the police over claims by Channel 4 News that Reform took funding from a US firm for three polls it commissioned earlier this year, costing £32,500.
The purported donors that appeared in the footage broadcast on Thursday night were in fact undercover reporters from investigative group Verbatim posing as an American financier and his UK-based son.
Foreign companies are not a permissible source of funding for parties, including for payments for studies and research, and accepting donations from them could constitute a criminal offence.
Mr Jukes denied any wrongdoing and said it was a case of entrapment.
It comes as Mr Farage will promise to declare a “national emergency” on his first day in government if Reform wins power in his keynote conference speech this afternoon.
He will say: “Within days of winning the general election, we will introduce dozens of Bills and force Parliament to sit all through summer for seven days a week to pass them.
“Britain is in serious trouble. We don’t have time to wait around to fix it.”
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