Reform UK officials quit as Farage denies donation claims

Two senior Reform UK officials have resigned after allegations that party figures conspired to secure a foreign donation, while Nigel Farage denied wrongdoing as the claims overshadowed the party's annual conference in Birmingham.

Reform UK said policy head James Orr and Farage aide Dan Jukes had stepped down pending an internal investigation. Channel 4 News alleged in an undercover investigation that officials had discussed securing a foreign donation, which is barred under UK electoral law. The purported donors were undercover reporters for the investigative journalism group Verbatim.

The Labour Party was among rival parties to say it had reported Reform UK to police over claims that the party took funding from a US firm for three opinion polls it commissioned earlier this year. London's Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the reports.

Farage rejected suggestions that Reform had taken disguised foreign donations. He called the sting entrapment and said the party had done nothing wrong and had taken no illegal money. He said comments by Orr and Jukes were "injudicious at best".

The conference also focused on Reform's immigration policies. Home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf told delegates that a Reform government would deploy the Royal Navy to stop small boats and remove foreign nationals who entered the country illegally.

Jordan Bardella, president of France's National Rally party, also addressed the conference. He and Farage announced a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on immigration if their parties each win power.

The developments come as Reform seeks to position itself as Labour's main challenger on the right. The party currently has eight seats in the 650-seat Westminster parliament. Parliament's standards watchdog is also examining a £5 million donation from British cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne to Farage. Farage says that money was for his security, was received before he was elected and did not need to be declared to parliamentary authorities.