Farage moves to contain fallout as Reform UK conference hit by donations scandal

Nigel Farage sought to shore up his damaged leadership on Friday as he distanced himself from two senior Reform UK officials reported to police over an apparent plot to evade foreign donation laws, a scandal engulfing the party's conference in Birmingham. Farage suspended his closest aide Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr after undercover reporters from the group Verbatim filmed them orchestrating an impermissible £30,000 donation from a fake US businessman, with the Metropolitan Police assessing evidence of potential political funding law breaches. Farage dismissed the allegations as "a little local difficulty" and "entrapment," while the pair deny wrongdoing. The scandal exposed splits at the top of the party, with home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf distancing himself from the suspended officials, and overshadowed Farage's main conference speech, which was delayed by climate protesters and light on policy.