Nigel Farage says he "wasn't listening" during donation scandal conversation

Nigel Farage has sought to distance himself from a donation scandal after an undercover journalist posed as the son of a wealthy American seeking to give money to Reform UK.

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Frankly wasn't listening

Speaking to the BBC, Farage said he "frankly wasn't listening" during the recorded conversation, in which two senior aides appeared to discuss how donations could be arranged. He said he had been campaigning at the time and was not aware of all the details involving the supposed donor.

British law permits donations to a U.K. political party from a U.K.-registered voter or a company. In the undercover scenario, the son qualified as a permissible donor, while his father did not. Farage said funds could originate anywhere in the world if income entered a London-based family office, adding that he understood electoral and donation law better than anyone.

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The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever

He said the two aides, James Orr and Dan Jukes, had never previously worked in fundraising and should not have been directly involved. After the report aired on Channel 4, Reform announced an internal probe, and both men left their positions pending its outcome. They denied wrongdoing.

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However, it is a clear case of entrapment, and they worked at it for a very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said.

Farage told LBC Radio that Reform had not taken "any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever," but called the report entrapment carried out over a prolonged period. Jukes separately described the investigation as entrapment by foreign-funded climate change activists and said he denied wrongdoing. The supplied account ends during his statement.

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Entrapment over a prolonged period of nearly a year by foreign-funded climate change activists.