ReportUndercover sting puts Reform UK and Farage under three separate investigationsAired September 8, 2026 at 3:48 AM UTCWritten September 8, 2026 at 3:55 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Undercover cameras caught a Reform UK official asking if anybody would find out0:04about the foreign money.0:05That footage has now put Reform UK and Nigel Farage under three separate live0:09inquiries, a standards commissioner, the Metropolitan Police, and the Election0:13Regulator, and one of them carries the risk of Farage losing his own seat.0:17The question is, which inquiry lands first, and whether any of them produces charges0:22or a finding that ends his time in Parliament.0:24The footage was filmed by undercover reporters who spent a year posing as a wealthy0:28American financier and his British-born son, a son they presented as a permissible0:32United Kingdom donor tonight.0:33That sting has detonated across Reform's annual conference, and the fallout is now0:37touching two investigations that were already running before it aired.0:46Those words are the heart of the allegation that the polls were to be paid for with0:50money the party could not lawfully take.0:52The polls were billed at £32,500 between January and July this year.0:57Some of their results later appeared in national newspapers.1:01without the party or the foreign funder being identified.1:03The alleged route runs through the permissible son to hide the impermissible father.1:07Orr said a payment could be treated as a donation in kind.1:11Farage's long-time aide Dan Jukes went further, suggesting the money be routed1:14through the UK resident son so the American father would have what he called1:18deniability, adding that that was one of the ways in which they did it.1:27At a lunch in Clacton, Farage was filmed praising one of the polls as amazing and1:32bang for buck and declaring it worked.1:34Boom, asked whether the arrangement was above board, he replied that it was all1:38above board.1:38Since the footage aired, Farage has insisted the party took no illegal money and no1:43donation reached it.1:44He called the remarks loose pub talk and unauthorized boasts that simply weren't1:49true.1:50He wasn't listening, he says, and he is not a compliance officer.1:53He assumed the money came from a legitimate London-based family office, possibly1:57from Singapore.1:58Both men stepped down and were suspended.2:00The party chairman says they are gone and not returning.2:03Labor and the Liberal Democrats have referred the party to the Metropolitan Police2:07and the Electoral Commission.2:09The Met says it is aware of and assessing the allegations and as of the 5th of2:13September had not opened a full investigation.2:16The Electoral Commission says it is considering the information and is in touch with2:19the Met, noting that attempts to evade donation rules are a matter for the police.2:23The sting is only one strand.2:25The Metropolitan Police is already running a criminal investigation into £500,000 of2:30gifts to reform from Fiona Cottrell, the mother of convicted fraudster George2:34Cottrell, a Farage ally.2:36The two direct gifts of £250,000 each were made in May 2024,2:42weeks before the general election, and are being examined for illegal funneling, for2:47allegedly concealing an impermissible donor or false information about the source of2:51funds.2:51In total, police are looking at £1.75 million in party gifts from Cottrell.2:57Two people have been interviewed under caution.2:59Understood to be George and Fiona Cottrell.3:02No arrests, no charges.3:04Investigators have also examined whether George transferred more than $2 million to3:07his mother before the gifts, including a $1.4 million deposit, though his lawyers3:12maintain he is a permissible donor and that his mother's gifts were her own3:15decision.3:15A separate £1 million payment to a vehicle run by Richard Tice in June 2024 passed3:20about half of it onward to reform.3:22Lay the dates side by side, and the picture is of three inquiries converging on one3:26party.3:26The Cottrell criminal case opened in February 2025 after an Electoral Commission3:30referral.3:31The Standards inquiry into Farage's 5 million pounds opened in May, paused when he3:35resigned his seat in July and reactivated after he won it back in the by-election.3:39By which time, the undercover footage had hit the airwaves.3:41That £5 million came from Christopher Harborn, a British cryptocurrency investor, in3:46early 2024, shortly before Farage announced he would stand in the general election.3:51He did not register it.3:53He insists it was an unconditional personal gift intended for lifetime private3:57security.3:57In his words, He can spend it on cars if he wants to, and it is not the public's4:02business.4:02The commissioner is likely to interview Farage within weeks with a possible4:06conclusion after Parliament returns in September.4:09Farage has called the inquiry rigged and was warned he could face a stiffer penalty4:13for saying so.4:15As of today, none of the three strands has produced a finding, a charge, or an4:19arrest.4:19But the standards inquiry is the one most likely to carry direct political4:23consequence.4:24A serious finding combined with a long suspension could trigger recall proceedings4:28in Clacton, Farage's own seat.4:30Farage maintains the party broke no laws.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗