DistantNews
Support us
🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Crime & Justice

Labour asks Met police to launch criminal inquiry into Reform UK donations after undercover report – UK politics live

From The Guardian · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Labour has asked London’s Metropolitan Police to open a criminal investigation into Reform UK donations following an undercover report alleging an attempt to evade electoral law.
  • Reform UK chief whip and party chair Lee Anderson said aides James Orr and Dan Jukes had stepped down pending an internal investigation and would not return.
  • Anderson said the party had made a difficult but necessary decision, while the report has left Nigel Farage facing questions about his role in the meeting.

Labour has asked the Metropolitan Police to launch a criminal inquiry into Reform UK donations after an undercover investigation appeared to expose a plot to evade electoral law.

They were told they had to step down. They have stepped down. And that’s got to be the right thing to do.

· Lee Anderson, Reform UK chief whip and party chairAnderson explained why James Orr and Dan Jukes had left their roles after the undercover investigation.

The fallout has already reached two of Nigel Farage’s key aides. Lee Anderson, Reform UK’s chief whip and party chair, said James Orr and Dan Jukes had stepped down pending an internal investigation. He said neither man would return to the party.

Speaking to Sky News, Anderson said: “They were told they had to step down. They have stepped down. And that’s got to be the right thing to do.” Asked whether the aides could come back, he replied: “No, there’s no chance of them coming back. They’ve stepped aside.”

No, there’s no chance of them coming back. They’ve stepped aside.

· Lee Anderson, Reform UK chief whip and party chairAnderson said the two aides would not return to Reform UK.

Anderson described Reform UK as a serious party and said politics sometimes required “tough decisions, harsh decisions.” He added that, given the choice to stand down, this had probably been an easier decision. The departure of the two aides stands in sharp contrast to claims that the allegations were merely a “hoax,” while Farage now faces serious questions over his role in the meeting.

We’re a serious party, you know, and sometimes in politics, you have to make tough decisions, harsh decisions.

· Lee Anderson, Reform UK chief whip and party chairAnderson defended the party’s decision to remove the aides.
About this summary

Originally published by The Guardian. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog