Here are some more lines from Nigel Farage’s interview with LBC this morning where he gave his response to the undercover report about an apparent Reform UK plot to evade election donations rules. (See 9.07am.)
Farage insisted Reform UK had not broken any laws – but he admitted aides had said things they “perhaps should not have been said” and conceded he was “not happy” about this. He said:
double quotation markThe party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever.
However, it is a clear case of entrapment, and they worked at it for a very, very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said.
And as a result of that, you know, they have been removed this morning. And yeah, you know, I’m not happy about it.
He rejected the claim that the footage of him discussing a £500,000 donation with fake father-and-son donors (see 9am) showed that he was aware of a plan to circumvent electoral law. He said:
double quotation markIf you listen to what I said, I said, is this all above board? Is this all legal? I’ve been told it was a global family office based in London. And by the way, I was in the middle of a Clacton by-election. I turned up to see people. I knew nothing about them whatsoever. I meet people all the time.
He claimed the three polls featured in the investigation were not commissioned by Reform UK. He said:
double quotation markWhilst the poll benefited Reform, it wasn’t commissioned by Reform.
It had nothing to do with Reform. It was an independent third party that did it. So that’s nothing. That’s nothing. Polls are funded by overseas people every single week. Every single week.
In fact, the report contains footage clearly suggesting the polls were carried out at at the behest of Reform UK.
He suggested Labour and the Tories had a worse record on donations because they in effect sold peerages. He said:
double quotation markThe Labour Party and the Conservative Party have been selling peerages for years in return for political donations. Political donations leading to big government contracts.
In the world of political funding, all sorts of things have been done over decades that are wrong.
He said the party had suspended two aides because their remarks “don’t look good”. He said:
