Dan Jukes, an aide to the Reform leader, and the party’s head of policy, James Orr, have both stood down after Channel 4 broadcast the investigation, carried out by a group called Verbatim Investigations, founded by journalists from the Centre of Climate Reporting. Jukes was also shown suggesting what the Channel 4 film described as an illegal way for a foreign donor to give £500,000 through his UK-based son. The proposed £500,000 donation was never made.

The party has immediately started an investigation, and Nigel Farage has insisted Reform “has broken no laws”. He also called it a “clear case of entrapment, and they worked at it for a very, very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said”.

It must be a bit of a shock to Jukes and Orr to be described as “contractors” in an attempt by Farage – who also appears in the footage meeting the fake US businessman to discuss his planned donation – to distance himself from the whole thing.

Lee Anderson, Reform’s chairman, said this morning that the pair “are not coming back,” even though the party has only just started its investigation into the allegations. Both responses show how damaging........

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