\u201cThis looks bad, as does the sale of peerages, as does government contracts for donations. We are not the first people to be involved in a row over donations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The BBC aired the full interview during its politics show on Sunday, having released an excerpt of it on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.16 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Zia Yusuf, Reform UK\u2019s home affairs spokesperson, has been accused of \u201cpretty straightforward racism\u201d by a Cabinet minister over comments about a potential Labour byelection candidate who was born in Somalia.<\/p>\n Yusuf has been criticised for a tweet about Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee and the leader of Camden council, who has been tipped as a favourite to stand for Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras contest triggered by former prime minister Keir Starmer\u2019s resignation as an MP<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yusuf wrote on X last week: \u201cThe front runner being foisted on the people of Holborn by Labour to replace the former Prime Minister Keir Starmer in our Parliament was born in Somalia. Do you understand what\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, was asked what he thought of Yusuf\u2019s tweet during an interview with Jon Sopel on Sky News this morning.<\/p>\n \u201cPretty straightforward racism, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Reynolds said, adding that the potential Labour candidate had \u201cspent decades in this country\u201d and made a \u201chuge contribution to her local community\u201d.<\/p>\n Allow content provided by a third party?<\/p>\n This article includes content hosted on platform.x.com. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Robert Jenrick, Reform\u2019s economic spokesperson, later denied his colleague\u2019s comments were racist and suggested it was legitimate to question the loyalties of foreign-born candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know this person, so I\u2019m not here to cast aspersions upon her, but I do want people to sit in our parliament who are entirely committed to our country,\u201d Jenrick said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Falklands row shows urgent need to commit to 3% target, says Labour defence committee chair Javier Milei\u2019s threats to the Falkland Islands<\/a> make it even more important that Andy Burnham increase defence spending immediately, according to the Labour chair of the defence committee.<\/p>\n Tan Dhesi said the comments by the Argentinian president<\/a> this week show why the government should raise military spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.<\/p>\n But he said Burnham\u2019s plans remain mired in confusion after the prime minister appeared to reassure him that the 2030 target would be hit, only for Downing Street to later retreat.<\/p>\n Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Ministers in the UK have condemned Javier Milei\u2019s comments. Photograph: Rob Carter\/Alamy<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important the prime minister and the chancellor don\u2019t defer those decisions to next year,\u201d Dhesi told the Guardian.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen Germany publicly expose Russia for the drone incident<\/a> [in Leipzig]. Now we\u2019ve got a threat from Argentina saying they are looking to take over the Falklands. We owe it to the Falklands \u2013 they say it\u2019s their right to self-determination. It\u2019s important that we also defend them from this threat.\u201d<\/p>\n You can read the full story here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Reform UK\u2019s Robert Jenrick also condemned the disruption of the Port of Dover by masked demonstrators \u2013 but said he understood the frustration with small boats crossing the Channel. Speaking to Sky News\u2019 Sunday Morning programme, Reform\u2019s economic spokesperson said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI absolutely do. I\u2019ve always hated people obstructing other people doing their daily life, whether it\u2019s Just Stop Oil or whatever.<\/p>\n And I don\u2019t like people going around in balaclavas, which is obviously very intimidating. In fact, our party\u2019s policy is to ban face coverings like that.<\/p>\n But do I understand why people are extremely frustrated? Yes, absolutely. This needs to end. This farce of the small boats has been going on for far too long.<\/p>\n And in fact you saw at our conference Nigel Farage and (National Rally president) Jordan Bardella, the likely next prime minister of France, signing an agreement which has the prospect of ending this once and for all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Line graph of small boat arrivals<\/a><\/p>\n Channel crossings are down about 40% compared to last year, with the number of crossings this summer at their lowest level since 2019. Home Office data shows people in small boats overwhelmingly come from war and conflict zones<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reform UK\u2019s Nigel Farage<\/a> has agreed a deal with France\u2019s hard-right National Rally party on returning migrants who try to cross the Channel in small boats, if both parties achieve power. A Labour party spokesperson said the proposal \u201cis a meaningless document packed with daft and dangerous ideas, signed by an increasingly disgraced Reform leader and an opposition politician. It is nothing more than pointless posturing.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.25 EDT<\/p>\n The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, went on to condemn the hundreds of masked protesters who prevented traffic from coming in and out of the port of Dover yesterday. In the interview with the BBC, he praised the police for effectively dealing with the \u201cintimidatory behaviour\u201d and said he had sympathy for the \u201cpeople around Dover\u201d and those disrupted by the delays.<\/p>\n A group called Patriot Platform, which styles itself as having \u201ca fierce love for our homeland\u201d, claimed responsibility for the blockade, as my colleagues note in this story<\/a>.<\/p>\n The far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, reposted videos of the blockade, highlighting a live stream of the protest that directed viewers towards Patriot Platform.<\/p>\n Masked people on the road in Dover. Photograph: Ay_audits\/YouTubeShare<\/a><\/p>\n Thousands of workers at Jaguar Land Rover<\/a> (JLR) will be offered redundancies with job losses reported to be spread over two years. The job cuts will be unwelcome news for Andy Burnham, who has vowed to \u201csafeguard sovereign manufacturing\u201d and reindustrialise Britain<\/a>.<\/p>\n When asked if the government would be willing to protect the jobs, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said it is not for him to \u201cintervene\u201d as he isn\u2019t responsible for running JLR\u2019s business.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to know what the right footprint for them going forward is. I want to talk to them about the numbers,\u201d Reynolds told the BBC, adding there could be financial support for long-term investment but not for a taxpayer-funded bailout.<\/p>\n The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, told the BBC that he has spoken to JLR\u2019s CEO and the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham. He said they\u2019ll meet together early next week. Photograph: Jeff Overs\/BBC\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Farage claims that he faces a disproportionate level of scrutiny compared to the other parties. When Laura Kuenssberg gave the Reform leader a series of examples of investigations faced by other party leaders, Farage responded:<\/p>\n double quotation markI don\u2019t think the others have been de-banked. I don\u2019t think the others have been kicked out by their pension provider. I don\u2019t think the others have literally had an attempt to wipe them out of society, oh and their families as well.<\/p>\n There is no doubt there is huge political prejudice against Reform right across the corporate world and right across the establishment. And that is a simple fact of life \u2013 and why? Because we are the disrupters and that\u2019s the way it works.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Farage told the Daily T podcast<\/a> last month that he had received about 400 death threats in the last seven weeks, and as a high-profile, extremely divisive politician, it is argued that he needs a high level of security.<\/p>\n The claim that Reform is fighting the establishment is undermined by the fact that many of his senior figures, including treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick and the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, Suella Braverman, are former Conservative cabinet ministers who were at the heart of the same political establishment Farage is railing against.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.16 EDT<\/p>\n Farage admits that the undercover report on donations ‘looks bad’<\/p>\n In an interview with the BBC\u2019s Laura Kuenssberg, Nigel Farage<\/a> acknowledged that the comments by James Orr and Dan Jukes were \u201cinjudicious at best\u201d and admitted that the optics of the undercover filming don\u2019t look good for his party.<\/p>\n \u201cThis looks bad, as does the sale of peerages, as does government contracts for donations. We are not the first people to be involved in a row over donations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The BBC aired the full interview during its politics show on Sunday, having released an excerpt of it on Saturday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.16 EDT<\/p>\n The Guardian\u2019s city editor, Anna Isaac, is sitting on the panel on Laura Kuenssberg\u2019s show alongside broadcaster Jeremy Vine and political scientist Francis Fukuyama.<\/p>\n Her revelation that Nigel Farage received a \u00a35m gift from the Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne<\/a> shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election has dogged the Reform leader ever since she broke the story in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n Farage, who has given different explanations as to why he accepted the gift, has argued he did not need to declare the money because he received it before he was elected as Clacton MP and it \u201cwasn\u2019t political in any sense at all\u201d.<\/p>\n The parliamentary standards commissioner is investigating whether he broke the rules.<\/p>\n Isaac\u2019s report came before a series of other stories raising questions about Reform\u2019s finances, some of which you can read here<\/a>. Isaac was among the journalists who have reported critically on Reform who were banned from the party\u2019s annual conference.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.16 EDT<\/p>\n Nigel Farage to be questioned as he battles to contain growing donations scandal<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The Reform UK party leader, Nigel Farage, is scheduled to appear in an interview on Laura Kuenssberg\u2019s Sunday politics programme at 9am, where he will likely be asked more about an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News which showed two of his senior aides appearing to plot to get around electoral laws on foreign donations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Accepting donations from a foreign company, including donations in kind such as polling, could constitute a criminal offence and the party has been reported to the police.<\/p>\n Senior aide Dan Jukes and Reform\u2019s head of policy James Orr have both stood down pending the outcome of an internal party investigation.<\/p>\n![\"Kiran](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Kiran_Stacey,_L.png\")
Kiran Stacey<\/p>\n\n
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![\"Reform](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788690867_873_1920.jpg\")
Reform donations scandal: is this the final blow for Farage? – The Latest<\/p>\n