Farage suggests Reform UK’s internal inquiry will clear two aides suspended after undercover C4 probe
Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Nigel Farage has indicated that Reform’s internal probe into a donations controversy will absolve two key aides and that legal actions will be launched against journalists involved.
Hinting that he had already seen the report and knew its conclusions, Farage said its release was “imminent”.
“It’s been done. It’ll be out in public very soon and I think some of your co-conspirators might find themselves with one or two legal challenges,” he told a Channel 4 journalist among reporters who questioned the Reform leader today.
Farage was speaking ahead of the rally in Doncaster – taking place now – which is one of the number which the party has scheduled over coming weeks.
Reform was rocked on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News. Soon after it was shown, the two aides most directly implicated – James Orr and Dan Jukes – were suspended by the party.
A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party.
In Channel 4 News’ investigation, footage shows that the fake UK-based supporter also had conversations with Orr, Reform UK’s head of policy, who talked about commissioning polling that would be paid for by the US-based father.
In footage of another meeting, Jukes, a senior adviser to Farage, appeared to suggest to the fake UK-based supporter that his US-based father could make a substantial donation by channelling it through the son.
Jukes has denied “any wrongdoing” while Orr has said he would cooperate with the party’s internal investigation “fully”.
The Metropolitan police is carrying out a criminal investigation into Reform UK over allegations it broke foreign funding laws.
Key events
Badenoch says she’s not bothered by people calling Tories ‘nasty party’
With the Conservatives turning to the right under Kemi Badenoch, particularly on immigration and welfare, there has been talk of the Tories becoming the “nasty party” again. In her interview with Tim Shipman for the Spectator, Badenoch told him that she was not bothered by the label.
She said:
double quotation markThe people who are going to say “nasty party” will always say it. Quite frankly, the reason why we’re in this mess is because we kept pandering to those people and trying to make them like us. And did it work? No, it didn’t.
That is not quite accurate. The Tories lost an election in 2005 when they were led by Michael Howard, who was famously denounced as being nasty by one of his colleagues, the late Ann Widdecombe. Howard was replaced as leader by David Cameron who did try to make the party more popular with the people who used to hate it. It seemed to work.
And here are some of the other lines
double quotation markWe’re finally saying what we believe and we’re not scared to say it. We should be more aggressive.
She said that she was a person saying “no”. She dismissed Andy Burnham as someone “who likes to say yes to everyone” and said that was “something which I learned a long time ago is a recipe for disaster”. She went on:
double quotation markNo one wants to be the person to say “no”. And I want Spectator readers to know that the person who’s saying “no” has arrived and is leading the Conservative party.
double quotation markI am looking for improved standards of conduct. When people have nothing except politics, that’s when the psychodrama comes, when they’re in the bars all the time. They’ve got nothing else to do.
Shapps was heavily involved in organising against Theresa May, running a sophisticated spreadsheet about the views of Tory MPs that was helpful to the Boris Johnson campaign.
double quotation markIt’s actually encouraged quite a few people to give us a bit more. People who were thinking of splitting their money between the two parties said, “They don’t need my money now”, so that’s helpful.
She criticised Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, for shaking hands with his Iranian counterpart at the UN, describing Miliband as “incredibly naive” and “gormless”.
double quotation markI’m not someone who likes to play the same movie twice. Inheritance tax – we want to get rid of it, but we’ve got to do our working first.
ShareFarage claims Burnham’s proposed National Care Service would mean ‘higher taxes and less efficiency’
Farage also attacked Andy Burnham’s proposal to set up a National Care Service, partly funded by making the pensions triple lock less generous.
On the National Care Service, Farage said it would deliver “far less than initially we thought” (because it would only cover care costs, not accommodation costs) and he said he would be delivered by a government “a government that is overseeing HS2 and can’t give us a third runway at Heathrow until 2039”. He went on:
double quotation markI don’t trust government, this government, to do any more than it does. It’ll mean higher taxes and less efficiency, in my view.
And, on the triple lock, which Reform UK is pledging to keep, he acknowledged that life for young people is tough. But he went on:
double quotation markPlease do not be under the myth that Britain’s pensioners are having a great time. They’re not.
Share‘Bring it on’ – Farage says Burnham ‘in for a shock’ if he thinks he could win referendum on rejoining EU
In his speech, Nigel Farage is now addressing what Andy Burnham said about the EU in his party conference speech.
Farage accuses Burnham of going back on what he said during the Makerfield byelection about not proposing that the UK rejoin the EU.
Referring to the prospect of the UK rejoining, he goes on:
double quotation markYou can prove what you want with opinion polls.
Let me tell you, when the great British public realise [rejoining the EU will] mean paying £25bn a year, when the great British public realise it’ll mean effectively joining Schengen and accepting at least another 200,000 people a year into Britain, and when they realise that any new treaty would ensure we signed up to a commitment to join the euro, I think he might just be in for a shock.
Farage also accuses Burnham of inconsistency.
double quotation markHe says he wants to unite the country. A second referendum will divide the country bitterly in a way perhaps we’ve never seen before.
And he says he wants devolution. He wants power passed down as near as possible to everybody, that somehow by doing that, we all become better off and richer.
Yet what he wants to do here is transfer all power, potentially up to Brussels.
If Andy Burnham, the king of the North, wants a fight in Doncaster and the red wall with me on rejoining the European Union, then bring it on.
It is hard to tell how much of this is confidence, and how much of it is bluster. Farage is probably right that rejoining would involve accepting some terms unpalatable to the electorate (although in practice Brussels probably would not insist on the UK joining Schengen and the euro).
But Burnham is probably wrong to assume rejoining is the likely Labour manifesto proposal for the next parliament, and wrong to assume that Burnham wants a referendum. He has even hinted rejoining could happen without one. (See 11.18am.)
ShareFarage claims he’s ‘back’ after being ‘relatively absent’ from politics
Farage says that, apart from the Clacton byelection, he has been “relatively absent from the political scene over the course of the last few months”. But that’s over, he claims.
double quotation markToday I’m back. I’m back on the road.
And today is when our general election campaign starts.
At the Reform UK rally, Nigel Farage has just started speaking. He was proceeded by Richard Tice, his deputy, who used his speech to attack net zero policies and restate his pledge to resign if he cannot cut energy bills by £250 within 100 days of Reform forming a government.
They are in Doncaster. Farage says the party came to Doncaster because it used to be a centre for manufacturing.
Nigel Farage speaking at Reform UK rally Photograph: Reform UKShare
Updated at 10.02 EDT
Labour says it is ‘insulting’ for Badenoch to claim Tories on side of young people as her latest benefit crackdown plan unveiled
Andrew Sparrow
I’m Andrew Sparrow, picking up from Taz Ali.
Earlier I said it might be hard for Labour to respond to the Conservative party’s plan to stop many jobless under-25s claiming universal credit because the government is about to publish its own Neet proposals which are likely to include some “tough love” elements. (See 9.04am.)
Labour has issued a response now. It’s from Bridget Phillipson, the party chair. She does not comment on the detail of the plans at all, but just says it is “insulting” for Kemi Badenoch to claim she is on the side of young people.
Phillipson says:
double quotation markAll young people deserve the chance to get on in life, through good jobs, proper training and the support they need to succeed. That’s what Labour is delivering.
Kemi Badenoch’s Tories held young people back and caused the welfare bill to spiral. To pretend she’s suddenly on the side of young people is frankly insulting.
ShareFarage suggests Reform UK’s internal inquiry will clear two aides suspended after undercover C4 probeBen Quinn
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Nigel Farage has indicated that Reform’s internal probe into a donations controversy will absolve two key aides and that legal actions will be launched against journalists involved.
Hinting that he had already seen the report and knew its conclusions, Farage said its release was “imminent”.
“It’s been done. It’ll be out in public very soon and I think some of your co-conspirators might find themselves with one or two legal challenges,” he told a Channel 4 journalist among reporters who questioned the Reform leader today.
Farage was speaking ahead of the rally in Doncaster – taking place now – which is one of the number which the party has scheduled over coming weeks.
Reform was rocked on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News. Soon after it was shown, the two aides most directly implicated – James Orr and Dan Jukes – were suspended by the party.
A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party.
In Channel 4 News’ investigation, footage shows that the fake UK-based supporter also had conversations with Orr, Reform UK’s head of policy, who talked about commissioning polling that would be paid for by the US-based father.
In footage of another meeting, Jukes, a senior adviser to Farage, appeared to suggest to the fake UK-based supporter that his US-based father could make a substantial donation by channelling it through the son.
Jukes has denied “any wrongdoing” while Orr has said he would cooperate with the party’s internal investigation “fully”.
The Metropolitan police is carrying out a criminal investigation into Reform UK over allegations it broke foreign funding laws.
SharePoland would welcome UK applying to rejoin EU ‘with open arms’, foreign minister says
While we wait for Farage to speak in Doncaster, where he will undoubtedly comment on Andy Burnham’s plans to launch a major review of the UK’s relationship with the EU, our Europe live correspondent, Jakub Krupa, has the following report:
double quotation markAfter France’s Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s Pedro Sánchez yesterday, Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski is the latest EU leader to offer his take on Britain’s renewed push to reset its relationship with the European Union, a decade on from Brexit.
In a post on X aimed partially at his domestic opponents ahead of Poland’s 2027 parliamentary election, he said:
“If [Britain] were to apply for a return to [the EU], which Poland would welcome with open arms, it would mean that after a decade of analyses, London has concluded that membership is the optimal form of participation in the single market. Let us not be swayed by the Europhobes into believing that a better alternative exists.”
For more Europe-related news, you can follow our dedicated live blog here:
Updated at 09.49 EDT
Introducing Farage on stage is GB news presenter Matt Goodwin. He told the crowds that if a general election were held tomorrow “we emerge as the largest party in this country”. He didn’t say winner, though.
Goodwin stood as Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection in Greater Manchester earlier this year, and lost to the Green party’s Hannah Spencer.
Matt Goodwin during a rally in Bletchley, Milton Keynes in March. Photograph: Jacob King/PAShareFarage speaks at Doncaster rally
We are about to hear from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who is in Doncaster in South Yorkshire today for the party’s ‘first 100 days’ rally. You can watch live here:
Nigel Farage speaks at Doncaster rally – watch liveShare
Updated at 09.15 EDT
‘Release from prison doesn’t mean freedom,’ says justice secretary
The justice secretary, Alex Norris, has sought to reassure the public with a video on social media explaining prisoners could be sent back to jail if they break the conditions of their early release.
In a video posted on X, he said: “Release from prison doesn’t mean freedom.
“We’ve got the widest range of tools ever to manage and punish those who leave prison.”
They include exclusion zones, restriction zones, GPS monitoring, probation services, curfews and alcohol monitoring, Norris said.
He added: “Breaking these conditions will have consequences. You could be sent back to jail.
“These changes will protect the public, they’ll make sure the system doesn’t collapse and they’ll put victims at the heart of everything we do.”
Justice secretary Alex Norris has sought to reassure the public that ‘release from prison doesn’t mean freedom’. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PAShare
Updated at 09.10 EDT
Lib Dem row erupts over Ed Davey’s defence of pension triple lock
In other news today, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s comments on the pension triple lock has sparked an intense debate within the party.
Davey was on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning talking about the government’s plans to end the existing state pension guarantee in order to help pay for a new national care service.
Davey argued that it could harm younger workers in the future.
“We already have nearly two million pensioners in poverty,” he said.
“This would mean that people who are working hard now, the millennials, when they retire they’d have a very poor pension.”
Tom Gordon, the Lib Dem MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, was not convinced by this argument.
“The idea that we’re keeping the triple lock to help millennials is at best for the birds, and at worst downright insulting. I say that as a millennial,” he wrote on X.
He added that Davey’s suggestion that the scrapping of the triple lock could hurt younger voters “gaslights an entire generation into believing it’s for our benefit”.
He said: “Telling millennials we’re keeping the triple lock to help us in 30 years’ time is nonsense.”
Vikki Slade, the Lib Dem MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, took a similar view, writing on the Bluesky app: “Most millennials don’t think there will be a state pension when they retire so this isn’t being done with them in mind.”
Updated at 08.45 EDT
Rajeev Syal
Hundreds of prisoners are due to be released early from jail on Thursday amid warnings that many will have nowhere to live and the probation system will struggle to monitor them.
About 2,000 criminals including domestic abusers and violent offenders are to be freed over the next month, with another 3,000 in stages over the next year to ease overcrowding. The number was reduced from 6,000 after an intervention by the prime minister, Andy Burnham.
Prisoners are supposed to be found appropriate accommodation before their release, significantly reducing reoffending rates.
But a probation source told the Guardian that their colleagues in some towns and cities were struggling to find hostel places.
“We have a handful of places for ex-offenders and they are full. We are now looking at releasing some people straight on to the street,” the source said.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the social justice charity Nacro, said: “We know that leaving prison homeless can put people on a path back into custody. It is vital that the whole system from prisons and probation to councils and community providers work together to give people a roof over their heads.”
Read more:
ShareVictim Support launches new offender release helpline
Victim Support has launched a new helpline for anyone with concerns about the early release of prisoners.
The charity’s CEO Katie Kempen said: “Images of prisoners being released today will be extremely distressing for the many victims who are already feeling incredibly scared and anxious about the early release of offenders.
“Supporting people through the impact of crime is why Victim Support exists. While it’s wholly unacceptable that victims continue to bear the brunt of a justice system in crisis, we are glad to be able to provide free, independent, specialist support at this critical time through the dedicated helpline launching today.
“Our specially trained advisers will give callers the space to be heard, provide practical guidance to protect their safety and wellbeing, and help them to understand next steps.
“We urge anyone who is affected by, or worried about, changes to an offender’s release date to call our new Offender Release Helpline on freephone 0808 168 9280.”
ShareCharities warn Tory ‘tough love’ benefits plan could push young people deeper into poverty
Back to the Conservative party’s ‘“tough love” plan to get young benefit claimants into work (we had more on that in an earlier post), we have comments from charities concerned about the impact on people living in poverty and with disabilities.
Child Poverty Action Group’s director of policy, Sara Ogilvie, said:
double quotation markIf we learnt anything from the austerity era it’s that cutting social security support drives up child poverty and cuts young people off from opportunity. Much better training and employment support is needed but blocking access to universal credit would not remove young people from jeopardy, it would dig the most disadvantaged deeper into hardship.”
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Mencap, which supports people with learning disabilities, said:
double quotation markMany young people with a learning disability want to work. It’s help and opportunity that are lacking, not ambition.
“Cutting off support through the benefits system won’t create jobs. It will push young disabled people into poverty, creating hardship and suffering for individuals and greater pressure on the public purse as other services pick up the pieces. We know sanctions-based approaches hit people with a learning disability hard because they are likely to struggle with complex requirements, daily attendance rules and inaccessible information.
“Getting more young disabled people into work means investing in opportunity, not cutting support: expanding supported internships, providing specialist employment support and helping employers recruit disabled people.”
Updated at 08.00 EDT
Of course, opponents of the early release scheme have come out to criticise it.
Laila Cunningham, Reform UK’s candidate for mayor of London, was outside HMP Wandsworth speaking to reporters.
She said if she was Andy Burnham, she would “hang my head in shame”.
“He should go speak to every domestic abuse victim who is fleeing her home and look them in the eye and say how’s he going to help them, what’s he going to do for them,” she added.
Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters
Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk and shadow justice secretary, said the public would “pay the price”.
He said: “Today’s releases are an insult to victims, a danger to the public, and will only encourage more lawbreaking from criminals who know they have a ticket out of prison.”
Some more comments from prisoners who have been released today, courtesy of the Press Association:
Michael Bogle, 38, from Brent, north-west London, told reporters outside HMP Wandsworth that he served 78 days in prison after breaching a 32-week suspended sentence for shoplifting.
He said he had been jailed five separate times for 100 convictions.
In a message to Andy Burnham, he said: “Keep the early release going. It’s good.”
He said there is a risk he would shoplift again “but hopefully not”, telling reporters he had an approved premises to live and plans to go to the job centre.
Matthew Johnson, 35, from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, said he was “buzzing” to be out of HMP Leeds, where he served six months of an 18 month-sentence for actual bodily harm.
Of the early release scheme, he said: “It’s a good idea, to be fair. They need to free up some places anyway. It’s a bit cramped.
“The staff are overwhelmed anyway with what they’ve got to cope with at the minute.”
The father-of-five said he was going to “go home and see my kids”.
Jordan Laverack, 26, said outside HMP Leeds: “The plan for today its to go to KFC and after that I’m not sure.”
He said: “I think early release is good for myself. I can see why there’s a lot of attention behind it, because there might be people doing heinous crime who are getting released early. But for the average person, who’s missed probation like myself, I think it suits somebody like me.”
Mr Laverack said he served just under four weeks for missing probation appointments, but would not say why he was on probation, adding: “nothing too bad”.
He said: “I just want to get myself some work, some employment, make my family proud, maybe get a girlfriend, get married, you never know.
“They’ve actually released me with nowhere to stay but I’ve got a few friends I can stay at. The people who don’t will be back doing what they’re doing.”
Updated at 07.25 EDT