Farage claims he wasn't listening during donations scandal meeting

Nigel Farage has said he “wasn’t even listening” during a meeting at the centre of a dispute over whether his party discussed getting round the law on overseas donations.

The Reform UK leader also said he understood donation law “better than anybody” in interviews aimed at rescuing the final day of his party conference from the fallout that has already led to the departure of two close aides.

Farage suspended his aide Dan Jukes and Reform’s head of policy, James Orr, on Friday after they were secretly filmed appearing to discuss ways to sidestep electoral rules on foreign donations.

Undercover reporters from a group called Verbatim posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, who is barred from donating. The father paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform, which was later used in national newspapers to the party’s benefit.

Farage is also under pressure over a separate clip in which he is heard saying “it’s all above board” after one of the reporters, posing as the UK-based son of a wealthy US backer, told him he had been talking to Jukes and Orr for some time.

“I’ll be the registered donor,” the son says. “But then dad will send the money to me, and then as soon as that’s done and all those conversations are had the money is available.”

Speaking on Saturday, Farage told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that “of course” he knew it was illegal for foreign firms to donate to UK parties, adding he had been told the money was being given through a UK family office.

When Kuenssberg pointed out that one of the undercover reporters had said in his presence that they “run an American family office”, Farage replied: “I am not a compliance officer. I was in the middle of canvassing in the Clacton byelection. I turn up. I frankly wasn’t even listening.”

He added: “I was told there was a global family office based in London, so the money could have come from Singapore. The money could come from all over the world, you know. Income could have come from all over the world into a family office based in London. I know electoral law. I know donation law better than anybody.”

Reform had hoped to draw attention to policy plans, including on tax cuts, as the conference closed in Birmingham on Saturday.

Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick pledged in a keynote address to raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 within the first 100 days if the party took office. The threshold has been £12,570 since 2021 and is set to stay there until 2031.

But in earlier interviews to promote the policy, he also had to deflect questions about the donations controversy. “That’s been dealt with,” he told GB News. “The two individuals concerned have gone, and we’re here today moving forward. The language that they used was clearly inappropriate, that was very disappointing.”

On Times Radio he said Orr and Jukes had been “permanently suspended”, appearing to contradict the party’s line that they had “stepped down pending outcome of an investigation”, which suggested a possible return.

Farage accused “the establishment” of trying to damage Reform UK when challenged by ITV’s Robert Peston on the series of allegations about his and the party’s finances.

“You come back and see me in six months, there’ll be five more investigations. It won’t end. This won’t end,” he said.

Farage said he had some “thoughtful” moments over the summer, claiming his family had urged him to “walk away” from politics amid pressure on them and him.

Despite Reform’s efforts to shield Farage, the Met police are now assessing evidence after a complaint that Farage, Orr and Jukes may have broken political funding laws. All deny wrongdoing.

The final day of the conference also coincided with an appeal by West Midlands police for a woman, among climate activists removed on Friday as they heckled Farage’s speech, to come forward after footage appeared to show her being assaulted.

The activist group Climate Resistance, which said it was behind the protest, said the protester was considering whether to speak to police.

Nadine Dorries, a former Conservative MP who has joined Reform, said sensitivities were “heightened” in the aftermath of the killing of Reform spokesperson Anne Widdecombe in July.

Also speaking on Saturday was Suella Braverman, the party’s education spokesperson and another former Conservative. Her speech announced a planned 20% cut in the number of student loans, with funds limited to university courses that could show good economic returns, with exceptions for courses “of strategic or cultural importance”.

Farage closed the conference in a partly empty hall, telling supporters that “there would be good days and bad days”.

“Sometimes we will get things wrong and get a bit of a kicking, but what this conference has shown is that whatever you throw at the leadership, whatever you throw at you, the people’s army, we immediately stop, pick ourselves up and start all over again,” he said.