Nigel Farage has been accused of allegedly welcoming secret foreign donations which may have breached electoral law.
and , a group of investigative journalists, have published footage suggesting that the Reform leader celebrated these foreign donations, and that senior party figures devised a plan to break the law on party funding.
The undercover footage, which was recorded by and which said it then verified, claims that party members commissioned polling which helped boost support ahead of the local elections in May.
How unprecedented El Niño could persist through to February
The head of the United Nations has warned that the world is facing a “supersized” El Niño event that has a “near 100 per cent likelihood” of lasting until February next year.
Antonio Guterres was speaking as UN experts warned the world has entered a “danger zone of extreme weather” in the coming months.
What you need to know
- Data released by the World Meteorological Organisation shows this year’s El Niño is set to be the strongest in more than 70 years, with “big impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns”.
- The natural climate phenomenon is already established in the Pacific and is caused when sea temperatures rise.
- The effects of El Niño vary by region. Hot, dry weather may hit South America, south east Asia and Australia. In India, monsoon rainfall can decrease but the southern US faces a higher chance of flooding.
How will El Niño affect the UK and the rest of the world?
Guterres warned that El Niño was being “supersized before our eyes” and that the world should brace for extreme weather. He said: “The planet is in uncharted waters, and those waters are heating up.”
In Britain, the direct impact of El Niño can be harder to discern but forecasters have warned of the likelihood of a wet and stormy autumn and early winter. The Met Office has said the weather phenomenon can increase the risk of colder UK winters.
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Strawberry fields for ever as gene-edited fruit to hit UK shelves
Gene-edited strawberries and tomatoes could soon be in British supermarkets for the first time after the Government gave the green light for final approval of the foodstuffs.
The Food Standards Agency will now have the final say on whether the products – a longer-growing strawberry and tomatoes with increased vitamin D – can be offered to consumers.
What you need to know
- Gene-edited foodstuffs have had their DNA adjusted to enhance or delete certain natural attributes such as ripening times or nutrient levels.
- In this case, “sunshine” tomatoes have been created by the Norfolk-based John Innes Institute with as much vitamin D as two eggs. A US company has also created eight strawberry varieties that fruit for longer.
- Crucially the technique is different from genetic modification, where material is added to an organism. With gene editing no additional DNA is introduced.
How will gene-edited fruit benefit consumers?
The Food Standards Agency now has the final say on whether the tomato and strawberry varieties can be offered to consumers after the Government approved the precision-bred plants.
Scientists say the fruits will look and taste the same as equivalent non gene-edited products. The result will be in an extended growing season for strawberries and tomatoes with the same amount of vitamin D as 28g of tuna.
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Disgraced comedy actor Chris Langham dies, aged 77
The former The Thick of It star has died from cancer at the age of 77. His high-flying career came to an end in 2007 when he was convicted of viewing child sexual abuse images.
What you need to know
- Langham’s death was announced via an obituary in which said he had died from pancreatic cancer on 24 June this year.
- He was for many years a leading comedy actor and writer, starring in the BBC’s Whitehall satire The Thick of It. He was also a writer for and appeared in sketch show Not The Nine O’Clock News.
- But his career came to an end when he was charged with 15 counts of downloading indecent images, including clips that showed the rape of a teenager and sexual abuse of an eight-year-old.
‘I did something terribly wrong’
Langham’s fall from grace was precipitous. Days after winning a Bafta he was charged with sex offences and subsequently sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment. The actor claimed he had viewed the material for research purposes.
The actor denied he had a sexual interest in children but he was placed on the sex offenders’ register. In a 2015 interview, the actor said: “I did something terribly wrong… I was punished, quite correctly, for being as stupid and arrogant as the judge described me to be.”
The plan to tackle ‘mega dinghies’ crossing the Channel
A new “surge team” of French police officers is to be deployed on beaches in the Channel region to tackle new “mega dinghies” being deployed by people smuggling gangs.
The rise in mega dinghies
Traffickers have responded to a security crackdown in northern France by turning to to ferry migrants. Last month, one of these vessels carried 230 people across the Channel.
Everything you need to know
- The UK and French governments have announced a team of 45 additional police will be deployed to beaches to prevent crossings.
- The unit will focus on areas further along the coast from Calais where smugglers are launching to try to avoid detection. A separate French intelligence unit targeting smugglers has also been boosted to 30 officers.
- The total number of officers involved in efforts to stop crossings in France now stands at nearly 1,050. The UK is paying France £660m to fund the operation.
Small boat crossings in numbers
Arrivals fall to six-year low but gangs switching tactics
- Between June and August, 102 migrant boats were detected crossing the Channel – the lowest summer total since 2019.
- Home Office figures show there were 7,371 arrivals in the same three-month period, the lowest since 2020, when 3,307 arrived.
- Since July 2024, the Government says 48,000 crossing attempts have been stopped and 1,100 boats and engines seized.
- The average number of people per boat has risen from seven in 2018 to 65 in the year to this June.
Burnham: ‘We cannot be complacent’
Andy Burnham is meeting French President Emmanuel Macron at No 10 to discuss issues including small boat crossings. The two leaders insist the beefed-up security operation in northern France is delivering results.
But the Prime Minister knows he will have to show a sustained fall in the number of crossings to prove to the electorate that the decades-old issue of illegal migration from France is being tackled.
What time are you on till? Uber launches UK’s first robotaxis
Londoners are able to hail autonomous vehicles for the first time after Uber launched a “small fleet” of robotaxis to operate in the capital.
Robotaxis on the streets of London
The vehicles are equipped with AI driving technology made by British firm Wayve. But while the cars are designed to drive themselves, safety regulations mean they will still have a human driver to intervene if needed.
What you need to know
- Transport for London issued the first minicab licences for self-driving vehicles last month.
- Uber insists there are at least 140,000 Londoners who would be willing to use a self-driving vehicle. The AI cars are ordered in the same way as the company’s other cabs through its ride-hailing app.
- The Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles are charged at the same rate as other Uber vehicles. London is the first city to use Wayve technology for commercial journeys.
The robotaxi revolution rolls on
While Londoners will be starting to get used to autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars are already common in other parts of the world. In the Chinese city of Wuhan, more than 1,000 robotaxis are in operation, while fleets also operate in locations including Beijing, San Francisco and Dubai.
In several locations, including Wuhan, operators have already dispensed with the human safety driver required in London.
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Under UK electoral law, political donations from overseas are generally illegal. It is understood that Labour intends to report the allegations to the police.
Reform said it had “been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors”.
It added: “The party denies any wrongdoing. Reform UK has a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission.”
Farage is already facing intense scrutiny over his finances, with an ongoing investigation into whether he should have declared a £5m gift from Thai-based crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. He denies wrongdoing and claims the money was needed to fund his personal security.
The footage shown on Channel 4 appears to show senior Reform figures arranging for a US company to fund three influential polls which were published in the media – without making it clear that the party had commissioned the surveys themselves.
In a secretly recorded meeting at a Reform UK reception, Dan Jukes, one of Farage’s close aides, introduced the undercover reporter as a key donor for an “off the book” project.
In another meeting in January, James Orr, Reform’s head of policy, appeared to arrange for a US company to fund polling that the party had commissioned. At this stage, Orr said that Farage would not be made aware of the agreement.
Channel 4 said the polls cost £32,500, which Farage described as “bang for buck” at a meeting over oysters and wine in his Clacton constituency.
The broadcaster has published clips of meetings between Reform and the undercover journalists, who were posing as a wealthy American and his UK-based son – the supposed donors behind the US company.
During a meeting between Jukes and the undercover reporter in April, he appeared to say the polling is “fingerprints off” for the party, but that “these little clandestine projects are so valuable for the sake of £4,500”. He said one of the polls “stood up public support for our slogan”.
In another meeting in late July, Farage told the undercover journalists that the polling was “amazing”, adding: “It worked, boom.”
Posing as a US investor, the undercover journalist said he had not been able to “donate directly up to this point”, but said he was “thrilled to pick up the tab for the polls”.
Channel 4 has alleged that the conversation turned to a potential larger donation to Reform where the UK-based son would make the payment and be the declared donor even though the money was originally coming from the US-based father.
The broadcaster said that Farage replied “thank you” and then “both of you, thank you”.
It reported that when the UK-based son discussed the “next phase” of their financial support, the Reform leader described it as “all above board”.
The undercover reporter had previously told Farage’s aides the potential future donation would be for £500,000, Channel 4 said. This proposed larger donation was never made.
The broadcaster asked Reform UK if Farage knew the polls were being funded by a secret financier using a US company before the payments were made, or if he was told about them later. They did not comment.
Farage and Reform are likely to face questions over the latest reporting on the party’s finances during their conference in Birmingham on Friday.
The party leader is also facing further allegations over years of undeclared support from George Cottrell – a crypto-gambling entrepreneur involved in an offshore bookmaker, Tether.bet, and a longstanding ally of Farage.
Under Parliament’s rules, new MPs must declare financial interests and benefits received in the 12 months before their election.
approached Reform UK, Farage, Jukes and Orr for comment on the findings of this investigation. They did not comment but it is understood they deny the allegations in full.
JL Partners, which conducted the polls, said: “Despite there being no concern about the accuracy of our work, the report did reveal weaknesses in our procedures. For that reason JL Partners is reviewing those procedures in order to eliminate possible grey areas and ambiguities and strengthen our safeguards for the future.”
Telegraph Media Group said it will be “reviewing” its relationship with the polling company as it believes it has been “misled”, while said it “was not made aware of Reform’s involvement in commissioning and arranging payment of the poll”.
The British Polling Council said its members must declare publicly who has commissioned their polls, adding that Channel 4’s reporting suggests there “may have been deliberate breaches of this rule”.