Reform UK published a 27-page internal investigation report on Tuesday in which two senior officials were cleared of breaching laws banning foreign donations, though the case remains the subject of a police investigation. The report was compiled by the party's legal secretary and secretary-general.
The internal investigation concluded that Dan Jukes, media adviser to Nigel Farage, and James Orr, the party's head of policy, did not breach fundraising rules. Party sources said they intend to pursue legal action against Verbatim Investigations, a group involved in covert recordings. The recordings led to the investigation and were broadcast in a Channel 4 News broadcast.
Police have been investigating possible criminal offences under election law since early September following that broadcast, and have announced they will expand an existing special investigation linked to Reform's donations. Jukes and Orr will remain suspended while the police investigation continues.
On the recordings, Jukes and Orr discussed a scheme in which a US donor paid for three polls with favourable narratives for Reform, worth more than £30,000. Donations from foreign sources are not permitted under political financing laws. Jukes also discussed the idea of the US donor paying £500,000 to Reform through his son who lives in the United Kingdom. Those who believed the father and son were journalists under cover.
Farage later met undercover reporters as potential donors at a pub in Clacton and did not object when the scheme idea was explained to him. He later stated he had not been listening.
In its internal report, Reform said it did not justify the "unreasonable" way in which Jukes and Orr discussed donations from a foreign donor. The report stated the party did not commission polls worth £30,000 from the US donor because Jukes was an external contractor, not staff. Orr was recorded suggesting that the US entrepreneur could pay for polls for party campaign purposes, which would be "technically a donation in nature", but "the reality is we could easily get out of it".
The internal investigation concluded that, as Reform made no payment for the polls nor organised them directly, "payments made to JL Partners were therefore not donations to Reform UK within the meaning of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000." Regarding the discussions about £500,000, which were never passed on, the report said it found no evidence that Orr or Jukes knowingly entered into an arrangement or acted with a view to enabling an impermissible donation.
"Nothing was agreed, no donations were made and no formal position was presented to the party's finance team, nor was anything accepted. The party's procedures for verifying donor identity and source of funds were never activated because nothing reached them," the report states. Orr also told the undercover reporter: "If there's a non-trivial chance that you lot give... a five- or six-figure sum directly, then we could organise a lunch with Nigel." The report said "the words used were stupid" but concluded they "were not the price".
The report also dismissed an incident in which Jukes discussed other alleged foreign donors who gave money through their children, which would have been against the rules. Jukes insisted he had "simply invented the circumstances so as not to disrupt the conversation" and that it was an "unreasonable, non-binding story" with no basis. The investigation "found no basis for the claim that any party supporter gave money in the manner described".
As a result of this case, which overshadowed Reform's conference earlier in September, the party announced it will introduce rules requiring the party treasurer's office to be notified in writing of proposed donations and that no meetings with potential donors may take place until due diligence checks have been completed.
A Reform spokesperson said: "Following the allegations made on 3 September by Verbatim Investigations and Channel 4, Reform UK commissioned a comprehensive internal investigation." He added: "The investigation examined all relevant evidence, including witness interviews, documentary records and electronic communications." "Following completion of the review, the investigation found no evidence that any laws were breached. Reform UK takes its governance and conduct obligations extremely seriously," the spokesperson said. "We believe Verbatim acted unlawfully and will be taking appropriate legal steps in due course."
Jukes told the Telegraph, which first published the findings of the internal investigation: "I welcome the findings of this investigation, which crucially found that I did not break the law, as I have maintained from the outset." He added: "I am also considering all appropriate legal remedies in relation to any false and damaging statements made about me." "For now I will continue to take a break from politics to focus on other opportunities," Jukes said.
A Verbatim spokesperson said: "We note this report is internal, written by Reform's own solicitor and secretary-general, and that the police investigation is ongoing. We are confident in our journalism, which speaks for itself."
