Reform UK officials step down as new funding scandal hits far-right party

Resignations come after documentary alleges party arranged for overseas company to fund polling.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage denies wrongdoing over party donations, after two officials resigned amid the party's latest funding scandal [File: Toby Shepheard/AFP]

Two officials from Britain’s Reform UK have stepped down amid the latest in a series of funding scandals for the far-right political party.

Party officials James Orr and Dan Jukes announced on Friday that they would step down, following the broadcast of an investigative television documentary. The party, which has seen support slide amid numerous reports regarding infringement of party donation rules, said it would launch a probe into the latest allegations.

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The undercover investigation by Channel 4 News alleged that the Reform UK officials breached political donation rules by arranging to have polling paid for by an overseas company.

In the documentary, Jukes is seen suggesting to an undercover reporter how to evade electoral law to make donations to the party from abroad.

Sitting at the table, Party leader Nigel Farage says all is “above board” as the reporter tells him that he has been in talks with Orr for some time.

The resignation of long-term Farage aide Jukes, and Reform’s head of policy Orr, comes on the eve of the party’s annual conference.

Farage – who has been dogged by questions over money received on a personal basis as well as by Reform in recent months – insisted on Friday in a radio interview that the party has “broken no laws”.

However, he added, “entrapped conversations don’t look good, and that’s why we’ve [launched the party investigation]”.

A spokesperson for London’s Met Police said it was “aware of media reporting … involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling”.

The ruling Labour Party, as well as the opposition Liberal Democrats, said they had reported Reform to the police following the revelations, which the anti-immigration party initially dismissed as a “hoax”.

Farage sought to hit back by accusing other political parties of “selling peerages”.

“In the world of political funding, all sorts of things have been done over decades that are wrong,” he asserted. “We as a party have done nothing wrong. A couple of our contractors have said things that shouldn’t have been said.”

Amid the series of funding scandals to have hit Reform in recent months, the disclosure of an undeclared personal gift of 5 million pounds ($6.7m) to Farage by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne has done the most damage so far.

Both criminal and parliamentary investigations into Harborne’s donations – he has also given Reform more than 25 million pounds ($33.6m) – are continuing.

Scrutiny is focused on Tether, Harborne’s cryptocurrency, which has been widely linked to drug cartels, fraud and human trafficking.

Amid the storm, Farage made international headlines by resigning his parliamentary seat to prompt a by-election, in which he cast himself as taking on “the establishment”.

With other major parties dismissing the move as a stunt and refusing to put up candidates, the populist leader won comfortably , although the nearly 10,000 votes achieved by his closest rival, “intergalactic space warrior” Count Binface, illustrated significant opposition.

此前有纪录片指控该党安排海外公司资助民调，随后多名成员辞职。

英国改革党领袖奈杰尔·法拉奇否认在党内捐款方面存在不当行为，此前该党两名官员因最新一轮资金丑闻而辞职。[图片：托比·谢泼德/法新社]

英国极右翼政党改革党（Reform UK）的两名官员因该党近期一系列资金丑闻而辞职。

周五，在一部调查性电视纪录片播出后，该党官员詹姆斯·奥尔和丹·朱克斯宣布辞职。此前，该党因多次被曝违反党内捐款规定而支持率下滑，该党表示将对最新指控展开调查。

列表 1/2：对法拉奇财务状况的审查“损害了英国改革党的支持率”

英国极右翼领导人法拉奇在抵制的补选中再次当选（共2条记录，此为第2条）

英国第四频道新闻的卧底调查声称，Reform UK 的官员违反了政治捐款规定，安排一家海外公司支付民意调查费用。

在纪录片中，可以看到朱克斯向一名卧底记者建议如何规避选举法，从国外向该党捐款。

记者告诉党魁奈杰尔·法拉奇，他已经和奥尔谈了一段时间，法拉奇坐在桌旁说一切都“光明正大”。

法拉奇的长期助手朱克斯和改革党政策主管奥尔的辞职，正值该党年度大会召开前夕。

法拉奇近几个月来一直受到关于他以个人名义以及通过改革党收受资金的质疑，他在周五接受电台采访时坚称，该党“没有违反任何法律”。

但他补充说，“被诱捕的谈话看起来不太好，所以我们才（启动了党内调查）”。

伦敦警察厅发言人表示，他们“注意到媒体报道……涉及政党捐款以及涉嫌违反 2000 年《政党、选举和全民公投法》有关投票的指控”。

执政的工党以及反对党自由民主党表示，在相关爆料曝光后，他们已向警方举报了改革党。该反移民政党最初将此事斥为“骗局”。

法拉奇试图反击，指责其他政党“出售贵族爵位”。

他断言：“在政治资金领域，几十年来发生过各种各样的错误事情。我们党没有做错任何事。只是我们的一些承包商说了些不该说的话。”

在最近几个月里，改革党遭遇了一系列资金丑闻，其中加密货币亿万富翁克里斯托弗·哈伯恩向法拉奇赠送500万英镑（670万美元）未申报的私人礼物一事，迄今为止造成的损害最大。

对哈伯恩捐款的刑事调查和议会调查仍在继续——他还向改革党捐赠了超过 2500 万英镑（3360 万美元）。

审查的焦点集中在哈伯恩的加密货币 Tether 上，该加密货币与毒品集团、欺诈和人口贩卖有着广泛的联系。

在这场风暴中，法拉奇辞去议员席位，引发补选，此举成为国际新闻头条。他在补选中把自己塑造成挑战“建制派”的形象。

其他主要政党都认为这是一场作秀，拒绝推出候选人，因此这位民粹主义领导人轻松获胜。不过，他最接近的竞争对手“星际太空战士”宾菲斯伯爵获得了近 10,000 张选票，这表明存在相当大的反对力量。