Exclusive: Admission from James Orr to undercover reporter came three months before party was given £72m

A senior Reform UK official raised questions about whether major donations from billionaire backers Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo would be legal under the proposed new foreign donors cap three months before they gave £72m to the party.

James Orr, who was then Reform UK’s head of policy and a Cambridge professor, discussed potential difficulties around future donations from Harborne and Delo in undercover footage captured by the investigative reporting group Verbatim.

Tories said to be ready to fight in Clacton, with standards investigation rumoured to be nearing its end

Nigel Farage’s rivals are gearing up for a byelection in Clacton in the months ahead, amid speculation that the standards inquiry into his £5m gift is nearing a conclusion.

Conservative sources said the party was ready to fight in Farage’s seat, although senior figures in the shadow cabinet are divided about whether it would be winnable, given Farage’s victory in a byelection over the summer.

Internal inquiry exonerates Dan Jukes and James Orr, who were filmed talking about scheme involving US donor

Reform UK has cleared two of its senior officials of breaking laws that ban foreign donations, despite the matter remaining under police investigation.

The party published a 27-page report of an internal inquiry finding that Dan Jukes, Nigel Farage’s press adviser, and James Orr, its head of policy, had not breached funding rules.

Former Tory minister defends UK decision to enter war in podcast with US rightwinger and Putin sympathiser

The former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has found himself defending Britain’s decision to fight against Adolf Hitler after inviting the US rightwinger and Vladimir Putin sympathiser Tucker Carlson into his home for an interview.

During the encounter, Carlson repeatedly suggested the west was to blame for inviting aggression from Russia and said of the prospect that Britain could have lost to Hitler: “Who cares?”

Analysts believe PM has a ‘golden opportunity’ to offer older people better protection in return for weakening the triple lock guarantee

It is a brave party leader who is prepared to go into an election promising a multibillion-pound new public service – likely to be funded by tax rises or holding back increases in the state pension.

But Andy Burnham’s colleagues are excited about the confident promise of new social care system that seven previous prime ministers have failed to deliver.

From a difficult economic landscape to decisions on oil and gas drilling, welfare spending and the Chagos Islands, we look at what’s on the horizon

Andy Burnham is riding high ahead of the Labour party conference after a successful first meeting with Donald Trump, and with his party faithful excited by their uplift in the polls. He plans to bring a message of hope and optimism to the autumn gathering in Liverpool, and will benefit from goodwill among members as he makes his first speech as leader on Tuesday.

However, the real tests will start to land from October onwards, with a difficult economic landscape, the ongoing impact of the war in Iran and domestic challenges to navigate. Here is what Burnham has to look forward to after the conference is over.

US president says British PM has a ‘lot of assets on his side’ as pair meet at UN in New York

Donald Trump has praised Andy Burnham as a “natural businessperson” and said the UK was “more up” than under Keir Starmer. But he berated the UK for its decision to give up the Chagos Islands.

In their first face-to-face meeting, Trump gave a warm assessment of the relationship, saying he thought Burnham had a “lot of assets on his side” and would be a “great prime minister”, adding: “We talked about everything from Rolls-Royce to energy to immigration – we covered a lot.”

Reform leader also tells US event Europe should have ‘more sensible view’ of president’s administration

Nigel Farage has said he wants to “hijack” Donald Trump’s hardline ICE adviser and bring him to the UK “to secure our borders”.

Speaking at an event in the US, the Reform UK leader also called for Europe to take a “more sensible view” of the US president’s administration rather than seeing it as “villainous”.

Exclusive: A total £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019, research reveals

British politics is increasingly being funded by individual billionaires with a wave of mega-donations having flooded into UK political parties over the past two parliaments.

A total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019, research reveals.

Ben Delo was convicted in US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls but pardoned by Trump

Reform UK has been given a record £36m donation by Ben Delo, a British cryptocurrency billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls.

The businessman, who has moved back to the UK from Hong Kong, is now the biggest UK political donor by far, dwarfing the £15m contribution to Reform UK from Thailand-based Christopher Harborne.

Scotland Yard confirms it is investigating allegations broadcast by Channel 4 News after undercover sting

The financial scandal around Reform UK has deepened as police expanded their investigation into allegations of illegal foreign donations and the elections watchdog said it was considering regulatory steps.

Police confirmed on Wednesday they would broaden their inquiries into Reform after Channel 4 News broadcast an undercover sting by a group called Verbatim, in which a reporter posed as a foreign donor seeking to fund Reform.

Revelations are further blow to Nigel Farage before conference speech, with Labour reporting party to police

Reform UK has suspended two senior officials after they were filmed in an undercover investigation appearing to plot to get around electoral laws on foreign donations.

In a blow to Nigel Farage hours before his conference speech, the party said it had launched an investigation into the actions of James Orr, the party’s head of policy, and Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage, after the broadcast by Channel 4 News.

Investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News shows man posing as ‘impermissible donor’ paying for polling that helped Reform

• Latest: Farage aides step down after undercover report on donations

Nigel Farage is facing fresh criticism on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News.

A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party.

Ben Delo, who was convicted in 2022 for failure to apply anti-money laundering controls, is party’s second biggest donor

Reform UK has been given a further £4m from the British crypto billionaire Ben Delo, with the party saying it is confident the formerly Hong Kong-based businessman will not be caught by the new overseas donor cap.

Delo, who was convicted in the US in 2022 for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls in his cryptocurrency business before being pardoned by Donald Trump, has previously given £4m to Reform in January.

Reform leader said inquiry had been widened but watchdog is not believed to have decided whether to do so

Nigel Farage is facing questions about why he claimed his finances were the subject of a second standards investigation, as he was sworn in again as Clacton’s MP.

The Reform UK leader said when he resigned in July that the standards system had become a “political tool” because “yet another standards investigation is under way” into his finances.

Simon Galbraith says Rupert Lowe’s party can ‘spark a British renaissance’ if it gets into power

The hard-right Restore Britain party has got its first major donation of £500,000 from an IT entrepreneur in a sign it may continue to pose a threat to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Rupert Lowe, an MP who left Reform UK before starting his own party, announced on Tuesday that the British businessman Simon Galbraith had contributed two donations of £250,000 this year.

Party’s deputy leader makes comments as he unveils new policy to subsidise more apprenticeships

Reform UK’s deputy leader has defended the party’s suspension of a senior activist who criticised Nigel Farage, saying internal disagreements should be kept “behind closed doors”.

Richard Tice, who is also the party’s business spokesperson, made the comments as he unveiled a new policy of subsidising more apprenticeships, paid for by cutting student loans for foreign nationals and those studying what he termed “Mickey Mouse” degrees.

Former chief of staff tells of fears her conversations were being recorded and leaked to media by colleagues

Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff has lifted the lid on how “unbearable” it was working in No 10, revealing she feared her conversations were being recorded by colleagues seeking to leak her remarks to the media.

Sue Gray, who was the most powerful adviser in Downing Street before her resignation in 2024, was highly critical of the working environment under Starmer, saying she was “disappointed” that he did not act on her concerns about staff briefing journalists against her.

Robert Jenrick takes aim at disabled people and foreign nationals after saying UK guilty of ‘suicidal empathy’

Reform UK has been accused of excluding the most vulnerable from society and punishing non-Britons living in the UK as it prepared to outline £50bn of cuts to benefits for disabled people and foreign nationals.

Robert Jenrick, Reform’s finance spokesperson, will detail the plans for £20bn of cuts to disability benefits overall, as well as another £21bn from stopping foreign nationals – including EU citizens with settled status – claiming almost any benefits, among other cuts.

Revelation comes after it was disclosed that Reform UK backer had paid for spying on prominent journalist

The businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks commissioned a private intelligence firm to dig into the Conservative party chair, in addition to having paid for an investigation into a prominent journalist.

Banks, a former Reform UK candidate and leave campaign donor, appeared to confirm on Sunday that he was behind an investigation into Kevin Hollinrake.