Nigel Farage Tells BBC He 'Wasn't Listening' to Foreign Donor Talks
BBC News reports on a scandal involving Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, who claims he was not paying attention during conversations about foreign donations to his party.
In an undercover investigation by Verbatim Investigations and Channel 4 News, Farage's former chief of staff, Dan Jukes, and ex-head of policy, James Orr, were caught discussing a potential scheme to funnel money from a US donor into the party.
Farage states that he was questioning the legality of the arrangement during the conversation but wasn't actively listening. He mentions the possibility of the funds coming from a UK-based family office, despite the donor being foreign and thus violating electoral law.
Jukes and Orr have since been removed from their positions following the investigation, with Orr promising to cooperate fully with Reform's internal probe. Labour and Liberal Democrats have called for the Metropolitan Police to look into the matter, as pressure mounts on Farage to take responsibility.
"I know electoral law... frankly, the two individuals involved here have never been involved in fundraising before," said Farage.