Birmingham: A media sting has thrown British right-wing leader Nigel Farage onto the defensive over political finance at a key moment for his Reform UK party, as thousands of supporters gather at its annual conference when it has lost its lead in the polls.
Farage removed two key aides from their jobs after the sting revealed them discussing financial support from foreign donors who would be banned from funding British parties.
The exposure came the night before Farage addressed party members at his party’s annual gathering in Birmingham, where loyal supporters brushed off the scandal and Farage said the scrutiny showed his rivals were scared of him.
In a revelation that rocked British politics, broadcaster Channel 4 showed one of the Reform aides discussing a plan to accept 500,000 from a wealthy American man by routing the money through his son.
The man promising the money was an actor hired by investigative group Verbatim and his “son” was a reporter from the group, and they were speaking at a lunch with Farage.
In a separate moment caught on camera, another Reform aide seemed to welcome an approach from the “son” to fund opinion polls to assist the party.
Labour responded to the story by calling for a police investigation into the conversations, seeking to pile pressure on Farage when he is already the subject of two parliamentary inquiries into funding from wealthy investors heavily involved in cryptocurrencies.
Farage drew rapturous applause from party members in Birmingham despite the news coverage, as they danced and sang while waiting for him to appear after security concerns delayed his appearance by about one hour.
Protesters in the audience yelled out during the early part of his address, but Farage laughed them off as “boring” and the crowd chanted at them to leave before security officials took them away.
Farage admitted there was “loose pub talk” by the two Reform aides but declared the party had not done anything wrong and had not broken the law.
“The polls in question were not commissioned by Reform. The results are out there in the full public domain, and there is no issue,” he said.
“What is problematic is loose pub talk, including a couple of quotes that were made that simply were not true.
“But some of the comments made by two of our team were injudicious at best. Neither of these members have the right to act in this way. Accordingly, they stepped down, pending an investigation.”
Reform members told this masthead the donations talk did not change their support because their priorities were issues such as migration, a key topic for the party when Farage is promising to stop asylum seeker boats crossing the English Channel.
Farage blamed his opponents for the greater scrutiny on the party.
“Ask yourself, why is all of this happening? Anyone got a clue why it’s happening?” he asked during his address. “Because they’re scared of us. That’s why it’s happening. And in my case, I’ve broken no laws, abused no public money.”
The furore undercut the party’s message when the high point of the conference was meant to be an agreement with a key French ally, National Rally president Jordan Bardella, to work together to stop asylum seeker boats if their parties formed government.
Bardella could become prime minister if the right-wing party sweeps elections to be held in France next year. National Rally leader Marine Le Pen is running for president.
Britain has been unable to stop small boats carrying asylum seekers from France in recent years, although numbers are down so far this year. Farage and Bardella argued that those who tried to cross the channel would be returned to France, removing the incentive to get on boats.
Reform and National Rally both propose tougher measures against migrants, including the removal of benefits that they believe encourages migrants to seek better lives in Britain and France.
Reform surged past Labour and the Conservative Party in the opinion polls over the past two years, and it had 23 per cent support in a YouGov survey released on September 1. It has lost its edge over Labour, however, after the rise of Andy Burnham as party leader and prime minister six weeks ago. Labour sank as low as 16 per cent in May but matched Reform on 23 per cent in the latest poll.
Verbatim, the reporting group that supplied the video for the Channel 4 broadcast, was set up by Lawrence Carter and Louis Wilson, who previously worked at the Centre for Climate Reporting, which also used actors to trick politicians into speaking on hidden cameras.
A report by the climate group made headlines in Australia last year when it showed US political adviser Chris LaCivita, a campaign aide to President Donald Trump, telling people he had been in Australia to advise the Liberal Party on issues it was having with the party’s leader at the time, Peter Dutton.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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