Reform UK’s annual conference has got off to a nightmarishly bad start for Nigel Farage.
As activists descended on Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre on Friday morning, two of his key allies were forced to stand aside in the wake of an explosive Channel 4 donations sting.
Dan Jukes, who is perhaps Farage’s closest adviser, and James Orr, the party’s head of policy, have stepped down pending the outcome of an investigation into the revelations uncovered by Channel 4 and Verbatim – a group of investigative journalists.
What to know as Argentina threatens Falkland Islands oil fields
Argentina’s President has said he will impose sanctions on oil drilling off the Falkland Islands amid heightened tensions between the UK and Argentina.
In a national address, Javier Milei said the “winds of change” favoured Argentina’s claim to control over the British territory, as the US reviews its position on the dispute.
Milei seeks oil firm sanctions
- The Argentine President said he would boost efforts to levy penalties against the companies, as well as their shareholders, directors and suppliers.
- Milei pledged to increase defence resources to build a naval base in the nearby Tierra del Fuego province.
- He has also promised to send Congress an urgent “national sovereignty defence” bill aimed at strengthening Argentina’s response to what he called unauthorised operations around the islands.
Urgent threat to Argentine interests
“If we do not act swiftly, in a few months they will have the material capacity to access the oil that lies underneath our sea – something that has never happened before.
Milei said Argentina had determined that the Sea Lion offshore project, operated by Navitas Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration, could begin oil development in the coming months.
Long-running soveriegnty dispute
The Falkland Islands have been a self-governing British Overseas Territory subject to a long-running sovereignty dispute with Argentina since the 19th century.
Argentina invaded the islands in 1982. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended in Argentine surrender after claiming the lives of 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders.
In a 2013 referendum, Falkland Islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory, with 99.8 per cent voting in favour – and just three votes against.
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‘Falkland Islanders choose to be British’
In a statement on X, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The Falklands are British because Falkland Islanders choose to be British.
“Our commitment to the Falklands is absolute and unshakeable.”
Trump suggests he would not help UK in Argentina invades Falklands
Milei’s comments follow a suggestion by Donald Trump that he would not back the UK if Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.
Trump, who has strongly criticised the UK’s stance on the US-Israeli war on Iran, told GB News: “Your country was not there to help me.”
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Inside the BBC meltdown over licence fee’s future
Scrambling to find £500m
The BBC is scrambling to cut £500m from its budget after executives discovered a gap in finances which shocked even new director-general Matt Brittin.
It comes as the number of households paying the £180-a-year licence fee fell by half a million last year to 23 million, the latest BBC accounts show.
The previous year, accounts showed a 300,000 drop in licence fee payers.
The BBC’s chief financial officer, Bérangère Michel, said earlier this year that the drop in TV licences had “resulted in an unsustainable financial position”.
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More job cuts to come
The BBC must cut £500m from its budget by 2028 – with £160m to be delivered immediately. The corporation has already announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of the first stage in its savings plan.
Other cost-cutting options include cutting BBC Four arts and its archive channel and moving its content to BBC Two. The BBC Three youth channel could also be under threat.
‘Every part of BBC affected’
- More shows are set to be axed, following this week’s decision to scrap , insiders said.
- In a staff memo, seen by The i Paper, interim BBC head of news Jonathan Munro, said the 200 job closures announced in June would be followed by “further post closures (in news)” in the coming months.
- “Every part of BBC News will be affected, including senior leaders, and we’re reviewing some on-air roles,” said Munro.
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Familiar faces set to depart
There will be familiar faces leaving, presenters, on-screen correspondents. They will be looking for a small number of expensive on-air people who they might try to persuade to leave sooner than they expected. It’s all up in the air.
A leading news figure told the i paper
Apprentice jobs also hit
- Apprentices were also told they could no longer expect jobs, as a result of the cuts.
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Four things to know as Reform reported to the police over ‘funding breach’
Reform UK has been reported to the police over allegedly breaching political donation rules.
The allegations
In the Channel 4 report, Reform’s Dan Jukes, discusses with a donor ways to allegedly get around electoral rules by securing a £500,000 donation via a foreign source.
The report, carried out by Verbatim Investigations, appears to show head of policy James Orr, suggesting the donor’s father could pay for polling. The report claims Reform commissioned three polls £32,500 in total and that the public was not told who commissioned or funded them.
The law
Under UK law, foreign companies are not a permissible source of funding for political parties, including payments for studies and research. Accepting donations from them could constitute a criminal offence.
Reform claimed it was the victim of a hoax and denied any wrongdoing.
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Reform’s response:
Reform UK has been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors. The party denies any wrongdoing.
A Reform Spokesperson
Reform UK has a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission.
Who reported Reform?
- The Lib Dems have written to the Met Police and Electoral Commission saying that James Orr, a senior adviser to Farage, facilitating the donation from an impermissible donor would breach the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act.
- Labour also intends to report the matter to the police, it is understood, while the Greens have called for an investigation.
- The Met said it is assessing the reports.
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‘No money reached Reform UK at all,’ says Orr
Orr, Reform’s policy head who is at the centre of the allegations, said that “no money reached Reform UK at all”.
“It was a public poll arranged by an independent person paying an independent pollster, and those polls were published immediately for the general public,” he said in a video posted to X.
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Aides step down
Both Orr and Jukes have stepped down from their roles. Farage said Reform UK has “broken no laws” and has not “taken any dodgy money” amid allegations the party breached political donation rules.
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Two rescued a week after Nepal floods
Two people have been rescued alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal, nine days after
a catastrophic flash flood killed more than 1,200 people.
Some 39 workers are still believed to be trapped inside the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project, according to Suresh Raut, a senior official of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
Rescued workers named
Authorities have named Sanjaya Shah, a mechanical foreman with the NEA, as the first person to be rescued from tunnels.
The second person rescued is Kabir Maharjan, the BBC reported.
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Injuries to hands and feet
- Both workers have injuries on their hands and legs, thought to be from crawling through the tunnel.
- They are also suffering from lack of oxygen, authorities said.
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Huge rescue mission
Hundreds of the more than 5,000 still missing are labourers working in a vast network of tunnels at hydropower sites along the river.
Engineers have been pumping air into the hydropower tunnels as part of the huge rescue operation. Aside from the tunnel, it is estimated that over 5,000 people remain missing in Nepal and Tibet.
The rescues inject hope into an otherwise gruelling mission through thick mud.
A tunnelling expert told the news agency that teams had already dug through debris blocking the tunnel for 50-60 metres (164-196 feet) before finding survivors.
They were hoping for a breakthrough, said Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.
“After a week of 24/7 heartache, we might, just, be back in miracle country.”
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Watch more from The i Paper
How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps
The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.
NHS GP dR RADHA
The science
Research has shown that feeling or expressing thanks can actually alter our brain.
- The balance of neurotransmitters change; more serotonin and dopamine (feel good chemicals) are produced.
- This can be long lasting if we make gratitude a regular habit.
- We also get a decrease in our cortisol (stress hormone) levels which helps lower anxiety.
- Being grateful can strengthen the nerve pathways which triggers positive emotion.
How can we build gratitude?
Change your words
Instead of seeing something as a problem, try to see the opportunities within it.
Our brains are very receptive and what we read or write can alter our emotional system.
Express it
This will not only make you feel good, but you will also get a positive response from others.
How can we build gratitude?
Notice more
Throughout your day, try to notice all the things that are going well; has someone opened a door for you, or smiled?
The basics
By being thankful for the small things every day, we are far more likely to be and stay healthy so that we can enjoy them.
What to do
Gratitude can lead to feelings of optimism, lower our blood pressure, and improve sleep quality.
- Write down what potential good aspects there are to the things you don’t feel like doing, or even what could be worse about it.
- Spend a few minutes writing down three things that you are looking forward to that day, or the good things that have happened to you that day.
- Say thank you to yourself for the things you have achieved, or managed to get through and changed that day.
Sales of battery
electric vehicles hit a record high last year.
Starts at £22,995 for the smaller battery
Available with either a 40kWh battery or a larger 52kWh pack, that offers almost 255 miles, the latest, retro-inspired Renault 5 is both a joy to behold and a hoot to drive.
The interior has been lavished with a level of detail that’s typically reserved for more expensive cars.
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A champion of EV efficiency
It offers a remarkable 491 mile range on a single charge from the 85kWh battery.
It is a technological masterclass inside with the ability to option screens that span the entire width of the dashboard, including an optional display for the front passenger.
Priced from £37,400
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It’s a lot of money to part with, but this is arguably all the car you will ever need.
The £89,000 Macan is a premium SUV that somehow manages to blend Porsche’s reputation for dynamics and sporty driving with everyday practicality.
The 95kWh batteries can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 21 minutes from the fastest public charging outlets.
With the business class-style six seat configuration costing a staggering £76,995, it is by far the most expensive Kia ever made, but it backs up its financial demands with a suite of genuinely useful and impressive onboard technology.
It’s fast, goes a long way between stops and charges relatively quickly but the interior is bland, the onboard technology is infuriating and the experience is devoid of emotion.
All of its gadgetry can’t disguise the fact that performance is weak, even for a typically zippy EV, the ride is fussy at slower speeds and it’s not in the least bit enjoyable to drive on a country road.
- While good value (prices start at £17,935) for the 200-mile max range, there are more interesting options from Hyundai, Citroen and Renault for similar money.
- It attempts to wow with tech, much of which hinders, rather than helps.
- There’s no tangible benefit over mounting your phone to the dash.
- Simply an average driving experience, adequate range and slow charging speeds.
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The kitchen gadgets under £25
Victorinox paring knife
It’s comfortable to hold, with a point sharp enough for scoring pastry.
ProCook cast iron pan
For unbeatable searing and heat-retention, cast iron is the top choice.
Tesco chopping board
Priced at just £22, I’ve yet to find another board that matches it for sheer value and quality.
The kitchen gadgets under £25
Pyrex jug
It is the perfect vessel for blending smooth sauces, melting butter, or warming stock. It won’t stain like plastic and the red measurements never fade.
Salter scales
“I’ve had my slim little set of Salter Disc Scales for over a decade, and I’m delighted to see they are still made to exactly the same reliable design today.”
Microplane grater
It uses photo-etched stainless steel teeth that stay razor-sharp for a decade, something the lookalike copycats simply can’t match.
Braun hand-held blender
It’s an essential for everything from making velvety soup to getting the lumps out of white sauce.
Bodum cafetiere
As well as delivering great results, cafetieres are easy to clean and there’s no ongoing filter paper costs or pod recycling to deal with.
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The kitchen gadgets under £25
Oxo peeler
What truly sets it apart is the chunky, rubberised handle that absorbs pressure and stays completely non-slip, even if your hands are wet. It is inexpensive and incredibly durable.
Falcon pie dish
Made by fusing porcelain onto heavy-gauge steel for smooth durability, it is dishwasher, freezer, hob, air-fryer and oven-safe.
The golden rules for a happy, secure relationship
Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr Amir Levine, author of bestselling book , explains why we behave the way we do in love.
Golden rules for happy relationships
Start with your own behaviours
The foundation of a secure, connected life is being what I call CARRP: that means being consistent, available, responsive, reliable and predictable. All of these qualities can be enacted in small gestures every day.
Express your needs
People need consistency and connection to feel safe. This is not, ‘You hurt my feelings by never replying to me’, it’s more ‘this is the kind of contact that helps me feel secure’.
Golden rules for happy relationships
The appendix ‘inflammation’ rule
If a relationship repeatedly inflames your nervous system, you need to disengage and deprioritise it.
Lean on community
You don’t need hundreds of friends. You need people and places that regularly remind you that you belong.
Stop blaming childhood
Humans are much more complicated than: ‘this happened to you, therefore you are doomed to be anxious’.
Reach for a
secure script
When something unsettles you in a relationship, your first reaction is not always the most accurate one.
If you’re anxious, your brain may jump very quickly to: ‘this is the beginning of the end’. If you’re avoidant, your brain may say: ‘this person wants too much from me, I need to get away’. So one very practical thing you can always do is pause and ask: ‘What would a secure person do here?’
Loneliness elsewhere
When people talk about loneliness, they often assume it means you don’t have enough people in your life. But you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely if those relationships leave you feeling excluded, ignored or disconnected.
What to do
- Build a community that works for your temperament and gives you regular, reliable moments of connection.
- You can still be kind to people while not treating them as someone who belongs in your inner circle.
- Explain what you need. Sometimes people simply don’t realise how you are experiencing them.
- Check in with people: does this person actually feel that I’m reliable? Do they experience me as predictable? That’s the only way that you can start to become more secure.
Thursday night’s sting showed Jukes seemingly discussing a way to get round the legal ban on foreign donations, and Orr potentially breaching electoral law by soliciting undeclared donations for polling that he had secretly commissioned for placing in newspapers.
Lack of experience around Farage
It is difficult to overstate what a significant personal blow this is to Farage. Jukes had boasted in the secret footage that he was poised to be Farage’s chief of staff in No 10, while Orr was recruited to be Reform’s policy brain and prepare its programme for government.
With two of Farage’s closest confidants out of action, huge questions now hang over what happens to Reform’s operation in the coming weeks and months.
While Farage will feel wounded by their loss, one senior Reform insider said the fact that Orr and Jukes had allowed themselves to get exposed highlighted the lack of experienced figures around the leader.
Commenting on the pair’s departure, the insider said: “It was obviously the right thing to do. [It] illustrates why a seasoned political professional is needed to advise up top.”
Orr, a Cambridge theologian and friend of US Vice President JD Vance, had little in-depth political experience before Farage recruited him as an adviser last autumn. “Orr was always a surprising choice for that role,” the insider said.
On Friday morning, there was still confusion about the future of Jukes and Orr. Reform’s formal statement said they had “stepped down from their respective positions pending the outcome of the investigation”, but party chairman Lee Anderson told Sky News that they “are not coming back”.
The Reform insider agreed with Anderson that the two men were finished. “They’re gone,” they said.
The problem for Farage is that their departure is unlikely to cauterise the wound. For one thing, questions remain about how much the party leader knew about what Jukes and Orr were up to. The Channel 4 investigation included secret footage of Farage at a lunch with Jukes in which he appeared to be aware of the “off the books” polling.
Secondly, the Verbatim/Channel 4 sting looks set to open up a whole new can of worms relating to other donations. In one section of footage, Jukes appeared to suggest that Reform was receiving donations from undisclosed sources channelled via family members – something which is against the law.
Farage’s stern test
Even before Thursday’s bombshell report, Farage was facing one of the sternest tests of his long political career with this conference.
The party has dipped in the polls. This time last year, it was riding high on an average of about 30 per cent – far ahead of Labour and the other parties. Now it’s at about 23 per cent and Labour has inched in front.
As well as having a resurgent Labour Party under Andy Burnham to contend with, Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives also have a spring in their step – a poll by the More in Common think-tank this week put the Tories in front of Reform – albeit by just one point – for the first time in 18 months.
Louis O’Geran of More in Common said: “For the first time it feels like Reform are facing threats from every side.”
At the same time, Reform has had a chunk bitten out of its electoral base by Restore Britain – the hard-right party led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London – speaking to The i Paper before the Channel 4 broadcast – said that Farage “desperately” needed the conference to “snatch back both the limelight and the momentum he and his party have lost over the past few months.
“But it won’t be easy: he can’t seem to put a lid on the dodgy donations story; Andy Burnham has stolen the media spotlight and encouraged some voters to give Labour a second look; Restore Britain still seems to be winning over some of the hardcore ethnonationalist voters; and the Tories under Badenoch haven’t given up the ghost”.
Summer of woes
One of the reasons the Channel 4 investigation is so damaging is because it comes hot on the heels of a series of financial questions which have dogged Reform all summer.
At the crux of Farage’s woes was his decision shortly before the 2024 general election to accept an undisclosed £5m “gift” from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. That decision – a potential breach of Commons rules – prompted an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg.
Farage – who denies wrongdoing and insists he has abided by the rules – triggered a by-election in his Clacton seat to show the accusations could not damage him politically. However, his gamble was widely seen to have backfired when the main political parties boycotted the contest, meaning his principal opponent was the satirical candidate Count Binface.
Farage easily retained the seat last month, but the standards commissioner’s investigation has been reactivated and he could yet face a second by-election if the ruling goes against him.
As well as the £5m gift, Reform was also already facing questions about whether Farage received undeclared support from his friend, the convicted fraudster George Cottrell, known as “Posh George”, as well as an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into whether payments to the party before the last election complied with electoral law. All involved deny wrongdoing.
Conference momentum
Farage’s original plan was to try to regain momentum at the conference with eye-catching policy announcements. In his keynote speech on Friday afternoon, he is set to promise the declaration of a “national emergency” on day one of a Reform government and to vow that ending the small boats crisis will be the focus of his first 100 days in office.
O’Geran – who also spoke to The i Paper before the Channel 4 revelations – said the conference was supposed to be a “test of whether they can get their mojo back, and whether Nigel Farage is still able to dominate the airwaves and really steer the conversation in the way that he has historically”.
The conference was also meant to be an opportunity to convince voters that Reform is a government in waiting and Farage is a plausible prime minister.
The party has invested huge amounts of time, effort and money into professionalising its operation and policy platform – hence the recruitment of Orr – with a particular focus on bulking out Reform’s economic agenda – previously an area of perceived weakness.
It’s for that reason that Reform extended its conference from two to three days this year, with Thursday being a “business day” in which the party attempted to win over the corporate world.
O’Geran said that if Reform is to succeed, the economy and cost of living will be crucial territory. “They have to do multiple things at once,” he said. “On the one hand, they have to show that they’ve got answers to the cost of living crisis, because polling suggests that that’s where Andy Burnham is winning back switchers (former Labour voters who had switched to Reform).
“On the other hand, Reform really have to show economic competence to compete with Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives.”
However, making progress on these issues also presents pitfalls. “As well as doing that kind of reassuring job, they still have to show that they’re radical and anti-establishment, because that’s the only way to stop Restore from sapping the enthusiasm of their base. So they have to do a really tricky balancing act,” O’Geran said.
Bale agreed: “The problem is that the kind of policy announcements that will get Reform noticed again may well involve proposals which, for that more moderate segment of the electorate anyway, just come over as harsh, extreme and unrealistic.”
Farage’s apparent answer to this is to vow that he will get the results which have eluded other prime ministers by governing in a much more uncompromising style. In his speech, he will say that Parliament will be made to “sit day and night” until all his legislation is passed, with MPs forced to attend all through the summer seven days a week if necessary.
In the weeks leading up to this conference, Reform would have been hoping that the Birmingham jamboree would give them a poll bounce which would put them back in front of Labour again.
Before Channel 4’s broadcast, O’Geran told The i Paper: “It would cause some worries in Reform HQ if they weren’t able to cut through and see some kind of polling bounce.”
Such a bounce seems in doubt now.