Farage Aides Quit Over Foreign Donation Sting

Farage, at a press conference on the first public day of Reform's conference, acknowledged Jukes' comments were "problematic" but said they were "loose pub talk, including a couple of boasts that simply were not true." He added: "Neither of these members were authorised to act in that way… Reform has broken no law, and we take compliance around donations very, very seriously." He said he was "annoyed" he had been introduced to the undercover pair and that his party needed to "do better as we professionalise."

Jukes said: "This was entrapment over a prolonged period of nearly a year by foreign-funded climate change activists. I totally deny any wrongdoing but have stepped back from politics in order to clear my name."

Orr told Sky News he had "agreed to step down from my current role at Reform UK pending the outcome of the party's internal investigation into the conduct of the programme, with which I will cooperate fully." In a video posted on X he said the polling was not Reform's: "It wasn't internal party polling. It wasn't Reform UK's poll. It was a public poll arranged by an independent person paying an independent pollster, and those polls were published immediately for the general public."

A Reform spokesman said the party "has been the target of a hoax perpetrated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors," and said Reform has "a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission." The Electoral Commission flatly contradicted that, saying it "has not approved the donor vetting process for Reform, or any other party."

A Verbatim spokesman told the BBC the work was carried out "to the highest journalistic standards," adding: "As the footage shows, the plots we exposed were proposed by Mr Jukes and Mr Orr, not by our journalists." Channel 4 News said it stands by "the public interest journalism in this investigation, which has been rigorously verified to ensure accuracy."