There is a kind of British political theatre in which a man educated at a fee-paying school in south London, who followed his father into City commodities broking and then drew a European Parliament salary for 20 years, stands on a stage in Birmingham and tells a hall full of people that he is here to take on the establishment.
That was the scene this week, and it would have been an ordinary enough scene had Channel 4 News not chosen the days before Reform UK's annual conference to broadcast the bombshell results of a lengthy undercover operation into how the party raises its money.
The swamp, drained into a private pool
The investigation, carried out with the research group Verbatim and broadcast this week, used reporters posing as a wealthy American financier and his UK-resident son. According to Channel 4 News, senior Reform figures discussed with them how money from an impermissible foreign source could reach the party without appearing in the public record.
Three opinion polls, commissioned from JL Partners and totalling £32,500, were paid for through a US company controlled by the undercover team. Two were written up by the Telegraph and one by the Times. None of the coverage disclosed Reform UK's involvement. Channel 4 News reports that discussions also covered a prospective £500,000 donation, structured so that the UK-based son would appear as the donor while the money originated with his American father.
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