Reform Probe Clears Own Officials Of Wrongdoing Over Donations Sting

An internal investigation from Reform UK has cleared its own staff of any wrongdoing over a donations sting.

Nigel Farage’s party commissioned a 27-page report into two senior officials after an explosive documentary from Channel 4 and Verbatim Investigation revealed they had discussed a £500,000 gift from a foreign donor.

The undercover reporters also claimed the party had taken funding from a US company to commission three supposedly independent polls at £32,500 earlier this year.

Foreign companies are not to allowed to fund UK parties, according to British electoral law, and the claims remain under police investigation.

The British Polling Council is also looking into the allegations.

Farage’s former aide Dan Jukes and the party’s previous head of policy James Orr were suspended in the middle of Reform’s annual conference last month following the undercover probe.

But Reform’s own internal inquiry, carried out by Reform’s legal secretary Adam Richardson and the party’s general secretary Tom Waterhouse, has now cleared both of Jukes and Orr of any wrongdoing.

The document said there is “no evidence” they “knowingly entered into or acted in furtherance of an arrangement to facilitate an impermissible donation”.

The report said: “Nothing was agreed, no donations were made and no formal position was presented to the party’s finance team, and nothing was accepted.

“The party’s procedures for checking the identity of a donor and the source of funds were never engaged, because nothing reached them.”

“Neither did anything that constitutes a breach of law,” according to the internal investigation.

It added: “People speaking for the party said things that were wrong, careless and in one instance untrue, and that they said them because they had stopped attending to the difference between what the law permitted and what merely felt discreet.”

Farage was dismissive over the undercover probe earlier this month, comparing the discussions of a £500,000 gift from a foreign donor to “pub talk”.

The party said: “Following the allegations raised by Verbatim Investigations and Channel 4 on Sept 3rd, Reform UK commissioned a comprehensive internal investigation.

“The investigation examined all relevant evidence, including witness interviews, documentary records and electronic communications.

“Having concluded the review, the investigation found no evidence that any laws were broken.

“Reform UK takes its obligations on governance and conduct extremely seriously.

“We consider that the production company – Verbatim – acted unlawfully and will be taking the appropriate legal action in due course.”

The report accused the Channel 4 documentary of presenting a “distorted version of events”.

Reform intends to sue the reporters behind the sting which prompted a police investigation and overshadowed its annual conference.

HuffPost UK understands Reform UK will wait until the police investigation into the sting has concluded before deciding the futures of Jukes and Orr.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.