A summary of today's developments
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The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal. Farage was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian about this article. He gave a video address at 2pm announcing he would force a byelection in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea.
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Parties across the political spectrum rejected a by-election triggered by Nigel Farage, who said he would quit as an MP in protest at the intense scrutiny over unregistered donations of cash and support to him. Labour and the Conservatives said they would not take part in the by-election and that any investigation into his finances should run its course. The Reform UK leader said he would stand down and then fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election, but several parties have since said they will not stand candidates to contest the seat. The Clacton MP said he had done nothing wrong as he accused Westminster opponents of using sleaze investigations as a “political tool” and the media of “haranguing” his family.
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The Lib Dems urged the Government to block Farage’s resignation until an investigation is complete, saying his constituents need “all the facts” before they can decide whether they want to keep him as their MP. The Green Party was less certain, with a spokesman saying it was a decision for members in Clacton whether to put up a candidate “but we are a political party – we contest elections”.
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Rupert Lowe, leader of Restore Britain, said his party will contest the “second” Clacton byelection – the one he expects to be held after the parliamentary inquiry into Farage’s undisclosed donations wraps up – but not the first one.
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Slideshows that compared student loan repayments with the cost of a mobile phone contract, and YouTube videos that did not mention the fact that loan terms could change amounted to mis-selling by the government, MPs have said.
Updated
Housing ministers face a backbench rebellion amid warnings their bid to speed up planning decisions will silence communities.
The Government has proposed regulations to strip elected councillors of their power to rule on some small or technical planning applications.
Instead, local authority planning officers would make the decision to approve or reject these schemes.
If MPs back the new rules in a vote on Wednesday, council committees would be unable to block plans for home extensions and schemes for fewer than 10 new build houses.
Where outline plans for up to 500 homes have been approved, planning officers would be tasked with judging the detailed designs later on in the process against local and national policies, rather than councillors in public meetings.
£5m gift to Farage was reported to National Crime Agency by concerned bankers
The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.
The disclosure will put further pressure on the Reform UK leader, who is awaiting a decision by the standards commissioner over whether his failure to declare the money breached parliamentary rules.
Farage was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian about this article. He gave a video address at 2pm announcing he would force a byelection in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea.
That attempt to shake off the deepening scandal over his finances appeared to have backfired on Tuesday night as the Conservatives, Labour, Restore Britain and the Lib Dems all announced that they would not stand candidates in a contest described as a “media circus” and “vanity project”.
If Farage is reelected, he is still likely to face the parliamentary investigation and any reprimand that might follow.
The Guardian first revealed in April that Farage had been given £5m by the Reform donor Christopher Harborne.
Since then Farage has given differing explanations over what the money was for, and insisted he had no obligation to disclose it because he was not a politician at the time, claiming it had no bearing on his decision to stand in the 2024 general election.
Updated
Flanked by union jack flags, with a spectacular view of the City of London behind him, Nigel Farage said he had “never been angrier”.
In an address that was billed as a “statement on my future in public life”, the leader of Reform UK, the rightwing, anti-immigration party that remains ahead in most national polls but which has been dipping recently, said he would not tolerate any more of it.
“It seems to me that the establishment have now decided that they can’t beat us fairly, so they’ve chosen to use foul means,” Farage said.
He was referring to the Guardian’s revelation that he had received an undeclared £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne as well as the more recent allegations – not denied – that Farage had also taken undeclared funding for his staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell, a convicted criminal and Gloucester-born aristocrat.
Parliament is investigating whether the £5m gift, made to Farage within 12 months of him becoming an MP in summer 2024, could reasonably be thought by others to relate to his “parliamentary or political activities” and was therefore in need of being declared. He denies it. There is pressure for the authorities to look into the Cottrell money too on the same grounds.
Updated
Justice minister refuses to say if killers and rapists will be freed early
A justice minister has refused to say whether killers, rapists and child sex offenders will be let out of prison early under government plans to ease overcrowding.
Jake Richards was pressed on the issue in the Commons after reports suggested perpetrators of these crimes could be among the 6,000 criminals to be released from September.
MPs demanded answers from him during a Conservative opposition day debate on Tuesday. But, when asked directly if dangerous criminals will be released, Richards did not respond to the question.
He told the Commons: “What we will not do is put our head in the sand, which would lead to another prison capacity crisis, which would lead to another urgent, chaotic early release scheme, as we saw under the last Conservative government time and time again.
“I cannot look victims in the eye and tell them that is good for them or the country.”
Some victims have received letters from the Government telling them their abusers or attackers are due to be let out of prison under the early release scheme.
Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller said: “No victim should have to endure being told that their perpetrator is being released earlier than expected for any offence.
“When a sentence is handed down, victims deserve the certainty of knowing where they stand and how long their perpetrator will remain behind bars.”
Responding to the debate, justice minister Catherine Atkinson said “release does not mean freedom”, adding: “No one in government takes decisions about release from custody lightly.
“These decisions affect public confidence, victims, communities and those responsible for managing offenders in the community, and that is why at every stage our overriding priority has been clear – protecting the public while ensuring that the criminal justice system remains able to function effectively.”
A Tory motion which “calls on the government to exempt any offender who has been convicted of any sexual offence against an adult or a child, including rape and grooming, or convicted of the attempt, conspiracy, or incitement to commit such offences” was passed by the Commons.
Updated
Mahmood sees military sites as 'the future' of asylum accommodation
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood told peers on Tuesday that she sees military sites as “the future” of asylum accommodation.
Appearing before the House of Lords’ justice and home affairs committee, she also sought to reassure critics that the government may temporarily exempt some people such as spouses and older people from a crackdown on settlement in the UK.
She told peers: “Military bases we see as the future of asylum accommodation. We think that can actually have better impact with the ability of crowding services on a site as opposed to other models.
“We have seen the stresses and strains of other accommodation, such as hotel use. The expansion of use of military sites is a key plank of government policy in this area.”
Following criticism of her plans to make it harder for people to settle in the UK – including asking people already living in the UK to wait 10 years instead of five before being able to apply – she said the government must maintain the right to do so.
A departure from this would be a “very big change” and “would drive a coach and horses through a government’s legitimate ability to control the border”.
She added that there will be “transitional arrangements” that will be decided once a public consulation has concluded.
“All aspects of the policy are yet to be settled, this hasn’t been a fake consultation exercise where the government already knows all of the policy and is just sort of looking like we ask for views.
“There will be lots of transitional arrangements that haven’t had a lot of airtime and debate publicly on spouses, on older household members, on whether you look at household income or individual income, and of course the policy on children remains to be settled,” she said.
Updated
Nigel Farage’s “statement on my future” video address was lengthy and had a lot to say about his apparent sacrifices for the sake of politics. But do his claims stand up?
Updated
The latest podcast has dropped and today’s episode is on Nigel Farage’s resignation.
Mainstream’s Interim Council, a pro-Andy Burnham group, has released a statement on Nigel Farage’s resignation and triggering of a byelection in Clacton.
It said: “With new leadership of the Labour party on the horizon, Reform has nowhere to run but spectacle.
“Farage knows that a Labour party that ends business-as-usual would spell the end of the Reform party too.
“This is a political stunt designed to distract from Labour’s potential to make big change under new leadership.”
Updated
Labour will not field candidate in Clacton byelection
From my colleague Jessica Elgot, who wrote on X: “BREAKING – Labour will not stand a candidate in Clacton byelection, NEC confirms
“Tories, Restore, Lib Dems also won’t stand against Nigel Farage.
“Has the stunt backfired?”
A Labour party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage is engulfed in a sleaze scandal and he’s desperately trying to change the subject.
“It’s pathetic, and the Labour party is not going to indulge it.
“Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, has decided not to stand a candidate in this circus.
“Instead, Labour will remain focused on delivering for working people and holding Reform to account.
“Farage should let the parliamentary investigation into his finances run its course and face the consequences.”
Updated
The Foreign Office has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires after two men were jailed last week for a stabbing attack on Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati in Wimbledon, south-west London, that a judge said was undertaken “on behalf of the Iranian state”.
Badenoch says Tories won't stand in 'fake' Clacton byelection, but will stand in likely recall one over Farage's 'fishy finances'
Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives won’t put up a candidate in the Clacton byelection. They came second in the seat in 2024, and held it with a majority of almost 25,000 in 2019.
She said:
We will be standing a candidate in the real byelection, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances
We will not be standing a candidate in the fake byelection that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening. We need to let that investigation run its course, and I think the reason why Nigel Farage has resigned is because he’s terrified that he’s going to be found to have done something wrong.
The best thing for him to have done would have been to call a press conference and explain what he did with the money, apologise if needs be, and that would have been the end of it. Instead, he has been running away from scrutiny. No one is bigger than parliament. We all have to register our interests.
This probably makes it even more likely that Labour will decide to do the same. (See 5.47pm.)
That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is now taking over.
Matthew England, a Hansard Society researcher, says that the government could refuse to allow an MP to resign (see 5.38pm) but that this has not happened since the 1840s.
Updated
The Lib Dems may not be standing in Clacton, but Count Binface (see 5.19am) says he is up for it.
Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and Greens: I demand you stand down in Clacton.
I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house.
Nigel Farage says he wants The People versus the Establishment.
So be it. Leave him to me.
Labour chair Anna Turley says party's NEC will tonight discuss not putting up candidate in Clacton byelection
On Radio 4’s PM programme, Anna Turley, the Labour chair, has just confirmed that Labour’s national executive committee will meet tonight to discuss the Clacton byelection. She said one option being discussed would be not putting up a candidate. “Why should we all dance to [Nigel] Farage’s tune,” she said. She went on:
He’s using this to create some kind of smoke and mirrors and a distraction from the real questions he has to answer about the money he’s received [and] why he hasn’t declared it.
Davey suggests government should block Farage's resignation
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is now suggesting the government should block Nigel Farage’s resignation until the parliamentary commissioner for standards has concluded the inquiry into Farage not declaring his £5m donation from Christopher Harborne.
The Government must block Nigel Farage’s resignation until the Standards Commissioner finishes investigating him. The people of Clacton deserve the full facts.
If a by-election does go ahead, all parties should stand aside. We cannot give oxygen to this vanity project.
Given that an MP can only resign their seat by getting the chancellor to appoint them as steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, or steward of the Manor of Northstead, in theory the government could stop someone resigning as an MP.
But that would mean Farage still being paid for a job he was not doing. And there is no precedent for this. It does not seem a likely option.
TUC leader Paul Nowak accuses Farage of stunt 'straight out of Trumpian playbook'
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, has also denounced the Clacton byelection as a stunt. He said:
Let’s call this Nigel Farage announcement out for what it is: a cynical political stunt to distract from his dodgy dealings with crypto crooks and super rich aristocrats.
Whether it’s multimillion-pound bungs, luxurious houses or fully funded apparatchiks, Reform’s undeclared cronyism stinks.
Farage is jumping before he’s pushed. This is straight out of the Trumpian playbook – attacking the media and anyone daring to ask legitimate questions about his finances.
Britain and Clacton deserve better than this.
These are from my colleague Jessica Elgot on Labour thinking about whether or not to contest the Clacton byelection.
Labour faces a conundrum over Clacton - Burnham is set on a summer where the prevailing story is the change he is bringing to the country - an August with full government grid and face time with the electorate. Many want to marginalise the Farage by-election as much as possible.
But it is hard for the party of government to decide not to run against Farage and leave him wide open to even increase his majority. Perhaps an independent might take on the challenge - but who? (One Labour person jokes that they should just let it be Count Binface vs Farage)
Ed Davey calls for all parties to join Lib Dems in boycotting Farage's 'vanity project' byelection
Ed Davey from the Lib Dems is the first main party leader to urge all parties not to put up candidates against Nigel Farage. He says:
If this byelection does go ahead now, we are calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage’s vanity project.
But the government should just say no to Farage’s ego-trip and block his resignation until the standards commissioner has finished investigating him.
The people of Clacton should have all the facts before they cast their votes.
Comments from Labour (see 4.43pm) and the Conservatives (see 4.27pm) suggest Davey is pushing at an open door.
If the main parties don’t stand, that would not stop independent candidates standing. That is what happened with the David Davis byelection in 2008.
The danger for the progressive parties, if they do boycott the byelection, is that supporters may be unhappy about the perception that Farage is getting a free ride. But, with no real contest, the byelection will in effect cease to exist as a media event. Even GB News won’t be that interested.
That would mean Farage would be back in the Commons in September – but unable to claim that the vote amounted to any meaningful vindication of his position in his dispute with the parliamentary authorities, or of his assertion that he is a victim of establishment persecution.
Restore Britain says it will contest 'second' Clacton byelection, after recall petition, but not Farage's 'media circus'
Rupert Lowe, leader of Restore Britain, says his party will contest the “second” Clacton byelection – the one he expects to be held after the parliamentary inquiry into Farage’s undisclosed donations wraps up – but not the first one. He says:
Restore Britain will stand in the Clacton by-election.
The second one, held later this year, when the investigations into Farage’s finances conclude as we all suspect they will.
We are not going to participate in a Reform-sponsored media circus over the summer months that is designed to puff up Farage’s ego and deflect away from wholly fair questions over why he has concealed such vast and irregular financial donations.
Unite leader Sharon Graham says Labour should not let byelection 'pantomime' distract from delivery
Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, has put out this statement implying she thinks it would be a waste of time for Labour to fight the Clacton byelection. She says:
This latest distraction from the everyday issues real people are facing will have workers and communities holding their head in their hands.
Everyday people are hurting and this latest pantomime does nothing to ease their pain.
Nigel Farage is certainly no friend of the working class. A privately educated former banker who moved from trading in the City to trading in fear.
The rise of Reform and Restore is down to the non-delivery of Labour.
It is now time for Labour to deliver. This latest diversion must not distract from that.
Burnham spokesperson dismisses Clacton byelection as 'gimmick' to distract attention from funding allegations
It is not clear yet whether or not Labour will put up a candidate in the Clacton byelection. And it is not even clear who should take the decision. While Keir Starmer is still PM, Andy Burnham will be in No 10 when the byelection takes place.
And we do not even know yet whether the closing date for nominations will come before Burnham becomes PM on Monday 20 July, or after. It depends when the writ gets moved.
But it is sounding as if Labour and the Tories (see 4.27pm) could both end up not putting up candidates. Starmer said the byelection was a “stunt” (see 4.31pm) and a spokesperson for Burnham said something similar.
The spokesperson said:
This is a gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage’s funders.
What really matters in politics is how we can change Westminster to take power for communities and bring it back to people to make life more affordable for them.
Starmer accuses Farage of 'desperate stunt' and says he's 'up to his neck in sleaze'
This is what Keir Starmer has said about Nigel Farage resigning so he can fight a byelecton in Clacton.
This is a desperate stunt from Nigel Farage.
It’s obvious why he is doing it. He is up to his neck in sleaze.
Politics should be about improving the lives of millions of people, not about personal gain, not about hiding dodgy donations, and I think the public will see this for exactly what it is.
Badenoch accuses Farage of 'hissy fit', and won't say if Tories will stand candidate in Clacton byelection
Kemi Badenoch has said that Nigel Farage’s decision to trigger a byelection shows he is having a “hissy fit”.
She also refused to say whether the Conservatives would definitely put up a candidate. against him – implying she is more focused on the recall byelection she expects to be held in Clacton when the inquiry into Farage not declaring donations wraps up.
Speaking at the Politico Live event, Badenocc said:
What I’m focused on right now, and I’ve set my team on it, is how to make sure that we avoid wasting taxpayers’ money with two byelections, and we’re exploring every avenue, so until that’s decided I’m not saying anything about what’s happening in Clacton.
There should not be a byelection when the standards committee has not ruled, and the fact is, this doesn’t even stop the ruling. It doesn’t stop the ruling, it just pauses it.
Perhaps at best it’s still going to happen, so he can run as much as he likes from the investigation, he cannot hide, and the people of Clacton, in my view, are going to take a pretty dim view of their MP wasting everybody’s time and money just because he’s having a hissy fit.
Reeves accuses Farage of triggering byelection to distract attention from donations controversy
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said that Nigel Farage is trying to “distract from the huge troubles he is currently in” by triggering a byelection.
She told reporters:
He’s obviously trying to distract from the huge troubles that he is currently in around not declaring a whole range of donations and associations. He’s trying to distract from that, and we mustn’t let him.
Asked if Labour would put up a candidate in Clacton, she said:
Let’s see what happens in terms of a byelection, but Labour would tend to stand candidates in byelections.
Updated
Farage's Clacton byelection - what happens next?
Nigel Farage has always been a master of political theatre. As people speculated about his future in recent days, until late this morning no one was predicting that he would subject himself to a self-inflicted byelection.
As a move, this certainly shows that he has been able to regain the initiative.
But whether this will allow Reform UK to regain momentum in the polls (it has been flatlining, or going down slightly, for months), and whether it will allow Farage to bury the sleaze allegations that have been dogging him, are entirely different matters. ‘Probably not’ may be the best answer for now.
Here are some questions the announcement raises.
When will the byelecton take place?
In theory it could be in August, but Sky News is reporting early September. As the party that holds the seat, Reform UK gets to choose.
Will other parties stand against him?
Probably. The main parties did not put up candidates against David Davis when he stood down so he could fight his own seat in what was seen by many as a pointless byelection in 2008. But it would be hard to imagine parties like Labour or the Lib Dems giving Farage a free run in the light of what they saw about how awful his politics are.
In 1997, when Neil Hamilton stood for re-election after being exposed for his involvement in the cash-for-questions scandal, all the rival parties stood down at the general election so Martin Bell, the BBC foreign correspondent, could stand against him as an anti-sleaze candidate.
In theory, that could happen again in Clacton. As Rob Hutton from the Critic points out on Bluesky, the argument is there to be made.
Calling a by-election over the sovereign right of every MP to take secret gifts from a convicted criminal. What a time to be alive.
But there is no obvious Martin Bell candidate available, and no evidence that the other parties would stand aside even if one were to emerge.
Could Farage lose?
In theory, yes, but it is hard to imagine that at this point. Here is the Wikipedia table with the results from 2024.
The main opposition parties will try to frame this as a sleaze election – but they might be running four separate anti-sleaze candidates, which could make it hard for this framing to take off.
In recent byelections the anti-Reform tactical vote has been strong. But in Clacton the rightwing, Reform, or Reform-leaning vote, is so strong that it is hard to see the anti-Reform vote being dominant.
Farage is framing the byelection as the people versus the establishment. (See 2.27pm.)
But, while Reform UK has been very successful at mobilising populist anger over issues like immigration, there is no evidence that members of the public are particularly outraged by the conduct of the parliamentary commissioner for standards. On a rainy day, no one is going to make the effort to go to the polls just to stick it to Daniel Greenberg, or to defend Farage’s right to trouser £5m from a billionaire.
We could end up with a byelection viewed by voters with a shrug. When David Davis fought his byelection in 2008, he claimed he was doing so to make an emphatic point about Labour’s plans for pre-trial detention. In the event, Davis won comfortably, but the vote revealed little about public thinking on this issue, and it had almost no impact on the broader political debate.
How will this affect Andy Burnham?
A Clacton byelection will be unwelcome for Burnham because it will distract attention at a time when he is trying to make a good impression in his first 100 days in office. But it won’t be that much of a distraction. A new PM is still far bigger story.
How will this affect Kemi Badenoch?
Clacton used to be a very safe Tory seat. If Farage wins again easily, that will show that the Conservative party’s recovery still has a long way to go.
Will Farage face a challenge from Restore Britain?
Restore Britain is the party set up by Rupert Lowe, who was elected as a Reform UK MP in 2024 but who then fell out with Farage. On immigration and crime, it is even more rightwing than Farage’s party.
Lowe views himself as a serious rival to Farage. But it is hard to imagine him beating Farage in Clacton, and so it would be surprising if he were to stand himself. He says his party will make an announcement later today.
How will this affect the investigation into Farage?
Farage is clearly hoping that, by fighting and winning a byelection, he can somehow put to bed the donations controversy that has kiboshed his campaigning in recent weeks.
But it won’t.
For a start, during the campaign Farage will have to give interviews and that means he will continue to face questions about the donations from Christopher Harborne and George Cottrell, what he has done with the money, who has funded his home, and why he thinks no rules have been broken etc etc.
And, if he wins, the Commons investigation just resumes. This is from Ruth Fox from the Hansard Society.
Amid all the speculation about Nigel Farage’s 2pm statement, it’s worth noting paragraph 40 of the Procedural Protocol to the MPs’ Code of Conduct.
If he announces he’s resigning and seeking a by-election, that would not automatically end the investigation into whether he breached the Code in the 12 months before becoming an MP in 2024.
The investigation would be suspended while he was no longer an MP. If he won the by-election, it would resume. If he lost, it could still be resumed. The outcome of the by-election result might of course affect the resulting rectification measure or sanction that can be proposed.
It is quite possible that Farage could win a byelection only to face another recall byelection a few months later, if the inquiry into the donations resulted in a recommendation that he should be suspended from the Commons for more than 10 days for breaching parliamentary rules. Given that there is no precedent for an MP failing to declare a donation of £5m in modern times, that is not an implausible outcome.
The Commons standards committee might also take the view that triggering a byelection to try to sidestep the disciplinary process should be seen as an aggravating factor, meriting a tougher sentence.
So, by the end of the year, we could be back where we are today.
Updated
Farage says Reform UK has offered to cover cost of Clacton byelection
Nigel Farage says Reform UK has offered to pay for the cost of the Clacton byelection.
I have spoken to the CEO of Tendring District Council. Reform has offered to cover the cost of the by-election.
I will be writing to Rachel Reeves later today with the same message.
Given that we asked for this by-election in the first place, it’s only right that we pay for it.
Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has posted this on social media, indicating that his party will be fighting the Clacton byelection on a people versus the establishment platform – depicting Nigel Farage as the establishment candidate.
Clacton has the chance to show Farage the door.
People Vs the Establishment.
His whole political project is about protecting the wealth and power of the establishment.
In an interview with Times Radio, Mothin Ali, the co-deputy leader of the Greens, said:
We stand in every election. That’s what the Green party does.
We’ll make a strategic decision as to how we stand in this election.
By “how we stand”, he means whether the party fights all-out in the hope of winning – or whether it runs a more low-key campaign.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has issued this statement about Nigel Farage’s decision to trigger a byelection.
Nigel Farage has spent his whole life dodging responsibility for his actions. This new stunt is his latest attempt to escape consequences for his biggest grift. We won’t let him.
UPDATE: And Davey also put out this longer statement.
Nigel Farage has spent his whole life dodging responsibility for his actions. This new stunt is his latest attempt to escape consequences for his biggest grift. We won’t let him.
We have just sat through a self-obsessed diatribe delivered by a Temu Trump who seems to think he is sat in the Oval Office.
He has done nothing for his constituents and instead focused on lining his own pockets. The people of Clacton deserve better than a rubbish Trump tribute act.
It would be a crime to waste taxpayers’ hard-earned cash on this Farage vanity project. He should pay for it himself out of the millions he’s grifted.
Updated
I have updated most of the earlier posts covering Nigel Farage’s speech so they now include direct quotes. You may need to refresh the page to get all the updates to appear.
Farage says he will resign to fight 'people versus establishment' byelection in Clacton
Farage says he is going to fight a byelection in Clacton.
It will be a “people versus the establishment” byelection, he says.
UPDATE: Farage said:
The issue with my daughter was the final straw. Enough is enough. And I thought over the weekend, what shall I do? I could go out and try and make some real big money. I could go to the USA, where I’ve got plenty of offers. And then I thought, why should I be judged today, or in history in the future, by Sky News and their ilk?
Why should they be the people that decide my fate? When, as I repeat, I have done nothing wrong.
I thought about it hard and I have decided today I will resign as a member of parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, thereby forcing a byelection, which should happen, I hope, in short order.
Now I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions. This will be a people versus the establishment byelection. It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire Establishment to frankly tell them where to go, and that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this byelection.
I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started, and I would say this to you, the voters of Clacton, if I win, you win, because if I lose, they win, and we will never with the two old parties get the type of fundamental change that we need to fix broken Britain.
Updated
Farage claims one of the recent stories about him was the result of an illegal hack.
He says immigration remains a problem.
In London men are afraid to wear watches, and women do not wear their jewellery.
Farage claims Labour's restrictions on donations are what you would get 'in communist country'
Farage accuses Labour of changing rules to benefit them electorally.
And now Labour is “coming for our money”, he says.
He is referring to the restrictions on donations from people living abroad.
Labour “keep changing the rules again and again just to stop Reform”.
It is “like living in a communist country”.
Farage accuses the Times of threatening his daughter's security, and says he 'never been angrier in my life'
Farage says commentators say he is angry.
He says last week the Times published a picture of where his daughter lives.
He claims that, by doing that, the editor of the Times (Tony Gallagher) has directly threatened her security.
He says his daughter is now facing harassment from the media.
He says he will not tolerate his family facing treatment like that.
Am I angry? I’ve never been angrier in my life.
UPDATE: Farage said:
For some reason, last week the editor of the Times newspaper decided to publish a picture of where my daughter lives.
There is no public interest in my daughter whatsoever. She is not involved in current affairs, doesn’t seek to be involved in current affairs, and has never been used by me once at any point in my political career.
No photographs on election addresses or anything like that, I’ve always done my absolute best to protect the privacy and safety of my family.
By publishing that photograph, the editor of The Times has directly threatened her security … She now has broadcasters haranguing her.
Sky News were one of them, and when I questioned them on it, they willfully and deliberately lied and said on their channel that they hadn’t contacted the family.
Well, let me be clear. I will not tolerate intimidation of my family. I will not tolerate the location of where they live being revealed.
I will not tolerate any of my family being endangered because of what I choose to do in public life, so yes, you can ask, am I angry? Well, I’ve never been angrier in my life.
Updated
Farage says he got security funding when he became an MP.
But 70% of that was later withdrawn, he says.
He says he is grateful to Christopher Harborne because that will fund his security.
Farage claims police ignore death threats he faces
Farage says he is the most attacked politician in Britain.
He recalls a mob surrounding him during a visit to a pub.
There are daily calls for him to be murdered, he says.
He claims the police ignore these threats.
UPDATE: Farage said:
On the gift, it was given to me on an unconditional basis. I can do with that money exactly as I wish, but there is a much bigger reason why I’m going to need that money, and it’s simply this.
For over 20 years now, I have been subject to constant demonisation by the press for daring to be outside the consensual view on many issues.
I’ve been attacked again and again. I am the most physically and verbally attacked public figure or politician of modern times.
Yes, you will know of some of the incidents, milkshakes thrown in my face, placards bashed over my head, but let me promise you, you only know about a fraction of the number of times that I’ve been assaulted.
Updated
Farage says he is facing new investigation as result of Sunday Times report about George Cottrell donations
Farage says is now facing another standards investigation as a result of the Sunday Times report.
And he attacks Gabriel Pogrund, the editor of the Sunday Times Insight team behind that report.
Farage say he is proud of the fact he has made money.
Labour ministers don’t have experience of making money, he says.
Farage describes £5m from Harborne as equivalent to a 'lottery win'
Farage says, after the Brexit referendum, he had little money.
Since then, he has done well, he says.
And he had the equivalent of “a lottery win”.
He is referrinng to the £5m from Christopher Harborne.
UPDATE: Farage said he gave up career in the City “at a huge cost” to be a member of the European parliament and to campaign for Brexit.
He then added that he had since made a lot of money in the last decade, saying:
Yes, over the last 10 years I have financially done well, but that of itself should not be looked upon as a crime, and yes, I had the equivalent of a lottery win, a large personal gift, and I’ll come to that, and the details of that in just a second.
Updated
Farage claims he has done nothing wrong
Farage says he has done nothing wrong.
He says the code of conduct only regulates what people do in their public life.
It does not cover what they do in their private life.
He says there is nothing wrong with making money.
He gave up a lot of money when he devoted his life to politics. He wanted the UK to control its own borders. He says the UK has not gained the full benefits of that. But he thinks it will.
UPDATE: Farage said:
Parliament has its rules about how Members ought to behave, and I believe I’ve absolutely obeyed those rules, and done so under getting good legal advice. The standards rules are clear, this is what they say: The code applies to members in all aspects of their public life. It does not seek to regulate what members do in their purely personal lives.
Though it would seem from the last couple of years, from the way I have been treated, that the press would rather our members of parliament had no assets and no wealth at all. They seem to fundamentally object to any MP that has outside income. Indeed, they view those that have continuing business interests with severe, severe scepticism.
Making money is not a crime.
Updated
Farage says establishment trying to beat him 'by foul means' because they cannot do it fairly
Nigel Farage starts by talking about how well Reform UK did in recent elections.
But the establishment has decided it cannoot beat him fairly, he says.
So it is doing it “by foul means”.
UPDATE: Farage said:
It seems to me that the establishment have now decided that they can’t beat us fairly, so they’ve chosen to use foul means.
Let me be absolutely clear, after the furore and the media pile-on, well, not just the media, the other political parties too – let me be absolutely clear – I have done nothing wrong.
I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money, and you know, for the first two years of being an MP, my personal MP expenses are zero, not of course that you’ll read about that in mainstream media.
Updated
Nigel Farage is making his statement now.
My colleague Pippa Crerar says it is not just the leftwing media that is having a go at Nigel Farage over his finances; even the Telegraph is doing it.
Nigel Farage says his statement is coming soon here.
Robert Shrimsley, the FT’s chief political commentator, also thinks a byelection is likely.
If I were Farage - I’d force the by-election, try to take back control of the story and make it about efforts to hound him out. And he could use a by-election win. But then again if I were Farage I’d have taken the £5m and retired
This is from Christopher Hope from GB News.
Sources tell me Nigel Farage “has had enough” and is sick of the attacks by what they say are left wing media outlets. That should be the theme of the 2pm statement
Updated
Under the Commons standards committee’s code of conduct procedural protocol, it is clear that if an MP stands down while an inquiry is underway, and is then re-elected, the inquiry can be reactivated.
It says:
If parliament is dissolved or the member otherwise ceases to be a member while an investigation is in progress, the commissioner will suspend their investigation until the member is re-elected. If the member is not returned to parliament, the commissioner will decide if it is appropriate and proportionate to resume their investigation.
Tim Shipman, the Spectator political editor, also thinks Nigel Farage may go for the byelection option.
Farage statement at 2pm
I know what I’d do if I was Nigel Farage right now - I’d call a by election and challenge my critics to bring me down
Nick Robinson, the Today presenter, has floated the idea that Nigel Farage may trigger a byelection. He posted this on social media about an hour ago.
Many are jumping to the conclusion that @Nigel_Farage is about to announce that he’s walking away from politics. Again. After all, he has looked & sounded frustrated & angry and has quit the leadership of both UKIP & the Brexit Party before. Do not rule out the possibility, however, that he resigns as an MP to trigger a by election in which he runs as the candidate the establishment is trying to stop. One to watch …
These are from Christopher Hope, political editor at GB News, the channel that employs Nigel Farage as a presenter and generally covers him very supportively.
Absolutely radio silence from senior figures in Reform UK ahead of Nigel Farage’s statement on his future in public life at 2pm. They all say we have to wait for 2pm.
Has Nigel Farage noted this report in the @Telegraph today that the investigation into his finances will not report until the Autumn? Has he concluded that, rather than wait for the investigation to conclude and be forced to face a by-election, Farage is quitting now to fight a by-election in Clacton? That could mean that the 12 month disclosure period will be reset from the date he returns to Parliament, and only cover his time as a MP. Or he might quit and stand again at the next general election? He has made no secret of that the Commons does not work for him. Or... is he quitting altogether?
Hope is referring to a report from Tony Diver, political editor at the Telegraph, saying:
The parliamentary sleaze inquiry into Nigel Farage will not conclude until September at the earliest, The Telegraph understands.
If Farage really does think that, by fighting a byelection now, he can somehow get round the rule that means he should have declared the £5m Christopher Harborne donation he received before the 2024 election, he may be disappointed.
Generally, the standards committee only imposes punishments on MPs currently serving in the Commons. But, ahead of the 2019 election, when the standards committee recommended a six-month suspension for Keith Vaz just before the general election was called, MPs had to consider whether the punishment would still apply if Vaz came back after the election.
In the event, Vaz did not stand again, and there was no need to decide what should happen. But in a debate in October 2019 Kate Green, chair of the standards committee at the time, said that it would be wrong for Vaz to be able to use an election as a ‘reset’ that would allow him to escape punishment for something that happened in the previous parliament.
Updated
Ex-Nato chief behind defence review says Starmer’s military spending plan is too little, too late
George Robertson, the former Nato chief who led the government’s defence review has criticised the prime minister’s plan to pay for it, calling the defence investment plan (Dip) insufficient and overly delayed. Kiran Stacey has the story.
What did Badenoch gain from her press conference this morning?
Peter Walker is a senior Guardian political correspondent.
Is Kemi Badenoch trying to be Nigel Farage? Not policy-wise – or at least that’s still up for debate – but in terms of visibility.
With the Reform UK leader still largely in media hiding (although we are getting a statement at 2pm), Badenoch has for the second week in a row held a press conference without a particular policy announcement, and taken questions from every media organisation who turned up.
This is the former Farage playbook, but new ground for the Conservative leader, who had a tendency to take questions only from a few broadcasters and then generally right-leaning newspapers.
On Tuesday morning in London Bridge, after a relatively content-free speech at a “rally” – she shared the stage with a group of placard-holding activists – Badenoch took questions from outlets including the Guardian (see 11.49am and 12.01pm) once a rare event.
We also didn’t learn much from the long Q&A. She wants to cut social security to pay for defence. She backs the pension triple lock. She believes Andy Burnham should delay the Commons recess so he can address MPs and take questions on his plans once in No 10 later this month.
But if Farage’s retreat is a sign of him being in a corner, such a long interrogation shows Badenoch’s increasing confidence with sometimes tricky questions.
Will it help the party’s poll ratings? It hasn’t yet. But as a phenomenon, it is worth noting.
On GB News the presenters are speculating about whether Nigel Farage might be announcing that he is going to step down so that he can trigger a byelection in his Clacton constituency.
It is possible, perhaps even likely, that the investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards into the undisclosed £5m donation that Farage received from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne could lead to the standards committee saying Farage should be suspended from the Commons for 10 days or more, which would allow voters in the constituency to trigger a recall byelection.
Boris Johnson resigned from parliament when he knew the privileges committee was about to publish a report saying he should face a long suspension. But he had been PM at that point, and had no prospect of an imminent comeback.
Farage could, in theory, resign now, and fight a byelection in the hope that a second election win would somehow halt the disciplinary process.
But it wouldn’t; the standards commissioner, and the standards committee, would just revive their investigation, and Farage would probably face more criticism for trying to evade scrutiny by parliament’s standards watchdog.
Farage's surprise announcement - 5 things it could be
What will Nigel Farage say at 2pm? (See 12.10pm.) This is not one of those occasions where the media has been tipped off in advance about an announcement that is subject to an embargo. (At least, we at the Guardian have not been tipped off. Perhaps at GB News, where Farage is a presenter, they have a better idea.)
But we can speculate about the options. Here are some things he could be announcing – ranked in order of probability, with the most likely at the top.
1) A temporary break from politics – linked to a health issue
There have been persistent rumours that Farage’s health is not as good as people might think. “He is not particularly well,” the leading political commentator Sam Freedman said of the Reform UK leader in a post on his Comment is Freed Substack blog a few days ago. In 2010 Farage was involved in a serious plane crash, and it is thought he still has some ongoing health issues relating to that. If there is an underlying health issue, Farage could decide to talk about it, and link that to a decision to take a break from leading his party for a few months. He might find some people are sympathetic.
2) A temporary break from politics – ascribed to exhaustion
Since the May elections, Farage has had a lower public profile. As Rowena Mason, Ben Quinn and Peter Walker wrote in a long read at the weekend, colleagues say he is tired.
But tiredness is not the only problem he is facing. His party seems to have hit a ceiling in terms of support, and its vote share has been going down. Anti-Reform tactical voting has become the most potent factor in byelections in England and Wales. There are splits in the party between hardliners like Zia Yusuf, and those like Robert Jenrick who want to make the party amenable to former Tories. Maybe Farage is just fed up and needs a break.
3) Standing aside for a caretaker leader
Farage could combine a version of 1) or 2) with an announcement that he is going to let Richard Tice take over as temporary leader for a few months. Tice has led the party before. But Reform UK is holding its annual conference in early September. While it seems quite probable that Farage may announce that he is off for a couple of months over the summer, it seems less likely that he would want to be away for a prolonged period that would involve missing the party conference.
4) Stepping down as leader for good
This is possible, of course – but it is not what anyone in the Westminster lobby is expecting.
(Even if Farage did resign, we would not know whether to view it as permanent. As Ukip leader, he resigned three times as leader, only to come back again each time. And, after setting up the Brexit party, which became Reform UK, Farage resigned to let Tice take over – before returning as leader at the 2024 election.)
5) A defiant attack on the media
The announcement could just be Farage saying he won’t be forced out. The message on X could be a tease. Again, this seems unlikely, but you never know.
Updated
Farage says he will 'make statement on my future in public life at 2pm'
Nigel Farage has posted this on X.
I will make a statement on my future in public life at 2pm.
Badenoch says she does not accept value of relative child poverty measures
Q: [From the Guardian] You want to reintroduce the two-child benefit cap. But that will mean more children growing up in poverty, and there is evidence that they means they will have worse educational outcomes, and this will cost the state more in the long term. Have you done any work looking at these long-term costings?
Badenoch said this was a Guardian argument and she did not accept it.
She said:
On child poverty, I think it’s very, very important that people understand the argument here.
I disagree with the premise that the Guardian has.
The measures for relative child poverty change depending on how many billionaires come in and out of the country. They all warped.
And the best thing to do to deal with child poverty is actually to get their parents into proper, well-paying jobs. That is what’s going to change their lives.
What we are doing is we’re taking money from other people, making them poor, to give to the people who fall under the relative poverty threshold. This is robbing Peter to pay Paul. It doesn’t work.
We’ve been testing this idea of giving more and more benefits to destruction. We’re seeing less and less productivity in our country. We are condemning generations of families to a lifetime on welfare.
I just disagree with this argument completely. I know it is a Guardian argument. It’s probably one that the paper is never going to change, but we have a different opinion. We are the Conservative party. We’re not the Welfare party. We believe that work pays and we believe that there is dignity in work.
UPDATE: A reader has been in touch to point out that Badenoch is wrong about the child poverty measure.
The main child poverty measure based on 60% of the median income - so it is simply incorrect to say billionaires coming and going affect it. The whole point of picking the median is to have an average unaffected by extremes.
Surprising error.
Updated
Badenoch claims Tory triple lock policy not related to party getting most of its support from older voters
Q: What is it about leading a party where the average voter is aged 62 that makes you so committed to the pension triple lock?
Badenoch replied:
The triple lock is a policy that we have because it is the right thing to do. I don’t pick policies just because of voter demographics. People know what I believe in. I’ve been very consistent. We do the right thing.
Badenoch also claimed that other Tory policies, like getting rid of stamp duty or changing the student loan system, would help younger people.
And she claimed the average age of Conservative voters was getting younger under her leadership.
Updated
Badenoch suggests pension triple lock only seen as unsustainable because economic growth too low
Q: You say you are committed to the pension triple lock. Are you willing to have a debate about whether it is sustainable, or are you committed to it for good?
Badenoch said she had been very clear that the triple lock was Conservative policy. She said cutting working-age benefits would be good for growth, but she suggested that was not true of cutting the triple lock. And she said if the economy was growing at 3% a year, people would not worry about the triple lock.
She said that meant talking about getting rid of the triple lock was “yet another example of dealing with the symptom rather than dealing with the root cause, which is about economic growth”.
Badenoch suggests government should revive Tory plan to tackle prison over-crowding by jailing people abroad
Q: If you are opposed to sex offenders being released early, what would you do to solve the prison overcrowding problem?
Badenoch said the last Conservative government had a plan to put British prisoners in foreign prisons. She went on:
And we had a plan to use some spaces in foreign prisons where there was capacity. I would like to see some creativity from Labour in terms of solving this problem. They’ve just given up.
Badenoch accuses Burnham of not taking questions from MPs about his plans because he 'doesn't know what to say'
Q: Do you want Andy Burnham to issue a statement about his policy on defence?
Badenoch said Burnham should be addressing parliament on a range of issues. She went on:
[Burnham] needs to come to parliament before recess. It would just be adding an extra day or two.
Labour has set up their [leadership process] so that Andy Burnham or whoever doesn’t get to answer any questions in front of MPs. He’s not answering questions from the media … He wants a summer holiday, and he wants all of us to go away until he’s decided what he’s going to do …
We had a Russian warplane drop sonar devices around British ships. We saw what happened with that warning shot that was fired at a yacht. We can’t just pretend that nothing’s happening. And he’s got absolutely nothing to say about this. I think that’s because he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know what to think.
We have someone who’s coming in as prime minister who’s not having any hustings, not answering questions. And we need to be really worried about that.
Badenoch says Farage should 'be straight with people' about donations
Q: Do you think Nigel Farage should have declared the gifts he received from George Cottrell?
Badenoch said Farage should have obeyed the rules, like everyone else.
I have to make declarations day in, day out of people who are giving donations and gifts or whatever so that people can see where the money is coming from.
Why does Nigel Farage want an exception? Why does he think that he is better or more important than the rest of us? And he doesn’t have to follow the rules?
We all need to follow the rules.
So yes, if he did receive benefits and gifts in-kind, then he should declare them.
Badenoch went on to say that Farage was in trouble with this story because he was not being straight with people.
The reason why these scandals keep pursuing [Farage] is because he won’t do what everybody else does – come out and answer the questions properly.
Telling people that it’s none of their business means that the stories will continue. There will continue to be questions asked.
He should just come out and be straight with people. That’s what I do all the time.
Badenoch says, if Burnham serious about wanting to stop sex offenders being released early, he should vote for Tory motion on this tonight
Badenoch said she was “sick and tired” of sex offenders being released early.
Referring to reports claiming that Andy Burnham also wants to stop sex offenders being included in the government’s prisoner early release scheme, she challenged him to vote for the Tory opposition day motion on this later.
She said:
What Labour should be doing is stopping this early release. Andy Burnham said he didn’t like it, so I would like to see him voting with us against early release later on today.
If he doesn’t do it after saying that he disagreed with the policy, then I’m afraid his words are not worth the paper they’re written on.
The Tory motion, which will be put to the vote at 7pm tonight, says:
That this house calls on the government to exempt from automatic early release under the provisions of the Sentencing Act 2026 any offender who has been convicted of a sexual offence against an adult or a child, including rape and grooming, or convicted of the attempt, conspiracy, or incitement to commit such offences; further calls on the government to bring forward legislation to enact this change immediately; and regrets that the Conservative amendment to the Sentencing Act 2026 that would have secured these exemptions was not agreed to.
The Tory motion covers all sex offenders. According to a report in the Sunday Times two days ago, Burnham’s particular concern is to ensure child sex offenders are not covered by the early release scheme.
Q: Would you consider a Rwanda-style scheme for foreign offenders you want to deport?
Badenoch said she would consider a scheme like that. She went on:
We need to deport all foreign criminals. Too much of our prison space is taken by people who shouldn’t even be in this country in the first place. So that is definitely something that we should do.
Badenoch suggests she would cut disability benefits for people with ADHD
Q: What benefits would you cut?
Badenoch says the Tory plans would stop people with mild mental health conditions getting disability benefits.
And she refers to this story in today’s Times, which she says backs up her case.
In the story, Daisy Eastlake and Oliver Wright say:
More than 100,000 people with ADHD are being paid disability benefits without any requirement to look for work, an increase of 40 per cent since Labour came to power.
Official statistics show that the government has approved an average of 40 personal independence payments (Pip) a day over the past two years in which ADHD is cited as the main condition.
The rise, from 71,528 in July 2024 to 100,207 in April this year, is being driven by a surge in the number of young people claiming the benefit. More than half of claimants for the neurodevelopmental condition are aged between 16 and 24, while nearly two thirds of young people cite ADHD, autism, depression or anxiety as their main disability, up from almost half in 2020.
Of all those claiming Pip for ADHD, about four in ten are receiving the top rate of daily living and mobility allowances worth up to £194 a week. This is paid on top of most other benefits and comes with no requirement to look for work.
Q: Why should the country trust you to make tough choices when your party did not do that during the 14 years you were in power?
Badenoch replied:
You said I had 14 years. I didn’t have 14 years. I only got there seven years ago.
Badenoch was referring to the fact that she was elected to parliament in 2017.
She went on:
I wasn’t in government all that time. And certainly, last time I checked, I wasn’t the prime minister during those periods.
But what I am showing is what the Conservative party under my leadership would do.
Badenoch claims Farage threatening tighter press regulation in response to stories about his undeclared donations
Q: Do you think the parliamentary commissioner for standards should investigate Nigel Farage’s gifts from George Cottrell?
Badenoch said that was a matter for the commissioner.
But she said the donations controversy showed “the sort of chaos which we would see under a Farage government”.
And she claimed that Farage’s reference to the Leveson report, when he was doorstepped by Sky News last night (see 9.16am), implied that he was keen on tightening press regulation.
She went on:
[Farage is] hinting at press regulation. For all of the criticism and the attacks, and I would even say abuse that I’ve got from the press, I’ve never once recommended curbing our free press. I think this is one of the amazing things about this country.
I would be very worried about a Reform government using government power to control the press. I don’t think that that would be right.
Updated
Q; Do you think it is helpful for Donald Trump to criticise Nato allies in public about their defence spending?
Badenoch said Trump was already criticising Nato countries in public. She said she would rather he did that in private, but what mattered was the point he was making. And she said that “his belligerence on this issue has been one of the reasons why countries like Germany have increased their spending to 3.7%”.
Kemi Badenoch also make a dig about Andy Burnham at the end of her speech when she said she would be taking questions, unlike other leaders. She was referring to Burnham not taking questions from the media after his speech in Manchester last week.
Q: To get defence spending up to 3.5% of GDP, you would need more than £22bn. Where would you get the money from?
Badenoch replied:
We have started explaining where we will get the money from. We’ve said that we will replace the two child benefit cap. We have said that we will have a sovereign defence fund, repurpose Ed Miliband’s net zero fund, the money that he’s wasted, put that into a sovereign defence fund. That gets to between £11bn [and] £50bn.
Badenoch accepted welfare cuts would not fund all the money needed for defence. But she claimed no other party had done as much as the Tories to say where the money could come from.
Badenoch claims Burnham does not care enough about defence
In her speech on defence, Kemi Badenoch also attacked Andy Burnham, claiming he was not properly committed to the issue.
She said:
Burnham doesn’t appear to have said anything about the threats we face.
Does he not care that on Sunday a Russian jet was intercepted by the RAF dropping sonar devices onto British aircraft carrier?
Or that our undersea cables are already under constant attack and a Russian assault on them could knock out internet across the country?
Defence of this country should be Andy Burnham’s number one priority.
In fact, he says he says he wants to spend less time on foreign affairs.
Tice says he is not worried donation revelations will make people think Reform UK only interested in rich
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, has dismissed suggestions that revelations about the party accepting huge donations from very wealthy people are undermining the party’s claim to be acting in the interests of ordinary people.
In a Q&A at the Institute for Government, asked if he was worried about people thinking a Reform government would only act on behalf of the rich, Tice replied: “Candidly, no, I’m not worried about that.”
Tice claimed that people like to see “successful people leading things” and he said there should be more respect for people who have been successful in business and made money.
He also said that Reform did very well in the May elections, which came after the Guardian’s revelation about Nigel Farage accepting £5m from Christopher Harborne, the cryptocurrency billionaire.
Tice said that no party was perfect. But he claimed that eight donors to the Labour party have received public contracts worth £150m over the past two years, and he said there should be more scrutiny of that.
(Tice seemed to be referring to a follow-up to this research.)
Starmer will be 'completely powerless' at Nato summit, says Badenoch, as she renews attack on defence investment plan
In her speech this morning Kemi Badenoch will claim that Keir Starmer will be “completely powerless” at the Nato summit today, and that his defence investment plan is “not fit for purpose”.
According to an extract released in advance, she will say:
Today Keir Starmer heads off to the most important Nato summit in a generation.
Britain has received intelligence that Russia could launch an attack on Nato as soon as 2030.
This development would put Britain in direct conflict with the world’s biggest nuclear armed state.
We could not be facing a more serious situation.
This is a critical moment in our national history, and our politics should be reflecting the gravity of the situation.
Every single party in Westminster should be talking about British national security.
But instead, we have the complete opposite.
Just at a time when Britain needs seriousness, Westminster has never been more of a pantomime.
We are sending an outgoing prime minister who is now completely powerless to that Nato summit.
And he is taking with him a defence investment plan which he knows is not fit for purpose.
With barely half of the additional funding that our armed forces need.
So little that the former defence secretary quit the government because he thought the plans would put British troops in danger.
We’re supposed to just pretend that didn’t happen.
This is from the Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty on the video clip of Nigel Farage losing his temper with a Sky News camerman. (See 9.16am.)
Nigel Farage is rattled
A shadow of the cocky showman Reform supporters are used to, being briefed against from inside his own party and looking for an off-ramp.
Does this look like a man with the temperament to face the scrutiny of being Prime Minister?
Student loan promotion in England and Wales amounted to mis-selling, MPs say
Slideshows that compared student loan repayments with the cost of a mobile phone contract, and YouTube videos that did not mention the fact that loan terms could change amounted to mis-selling by the government, MPs have said.
Here is Hilary Osborne’s story.
And here is the report from the Commons Treasury committee.
The latest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast is out, and it features Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talking about Nigel Farage and his problem with donations. It’s here.
Labour asks Electoral Commission to investigate claims Farage broke electoral law by not disclosing gifts
Good morning. One of the reasons why Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is relatively popular is because he mostly presents as genial and good-natured. A rather different Farage was on display last night, after he angrily berated a Sky News cameraman who doorstepped him as he arrived back in the UK off a flight from the US. Farage also accused Sky News of harassing his family, which Sky denies. Perhaps Farage had a grim journey next to a noisy passenger in economy, but it is hard not to conclude that the outburst has more to do with Farage fearing that the ongoing controversy about his failure to declare gifts and support he received in the period shortly before he became an MP in 2024 could fatally damage his chances of becoming PM.
The Labour party has posted the clip.
It may come as some consolation to the Reform UK leader to know that Donald Trump is on his side. The US president posted this on his Truth Social platform yesterday.
But there is fresh trouble for Farage this morning. At the weekend the Sunday Times published a long investigation into the gifts and benefits Farage received before he became an MP from George Cottrell, a crypto entrepreneur who has previously been convicted of fraud. The Sunday Times report, and the reaction it generated at the time, focused on claims that Farage broke parliamentary rules by failing to declare these in the register of MPs’ interests.
Now the Electoral Commission is being asked to investigate claims that the failure to declare the gifts was also a breach of electoral law. Anna Turley, the Labour chair, has written to the commission setting out her case. She argues that, on the basis of the Sunday Times reporting, the Cottrell gifts “exceed the £500 threshold for checking permissibility and the £2,230 threshold for reporting donations to the Electoral Commission”.
Here is the key extract from Turley’s letter.
During the period in question (from the second half of 2023 until the 2024 general election), Mr Farage was a member of Reform UK, its honorary president and, with Reform UK being a private limited company at the time, the owner of the majority of its shares.
Mr Farage was highly active as a Reform member and campaigner over this period. For example, he was a speaker at Reform UK’s Conference on 8 October 2023; he posted regularly in support of Reform UK on X (formerly Twitter); and, as The Sunday Times reports, his video output created in conjunction with the staff funded by Mr Cottrell was highly political and strongly supportive of Reform UK:
His daily videos about “an invasion” of illegal migrants crossing the Channel, net zero U-turns from Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government and the “dreadful” Black Lives Matter movement raked in hundreds of thousands of views. He also continued to champion Reform, sharing a video bearing the party’s turquoise logo and encouraging viewers to vote at the October by-elections. “My efforts and my work will be solely behind Richard Tice and Reform UK,” he boasted in a video captioned “Reform is here to stay.”
As you will be aware, Schedule 7 of PPERA says that a regulated donee may be “a member of a registered party”, and that a “controlled donation” “in relation to a member of a registered party means a donation received by that person which is (i) offered to him, or (ii) where it has been accepted, retained by him, for his use or benefit in connection with any of his political activities as a member of the party”.
I believe that Mr Farage’s status within Reform UK, and his use of the resources provided by Mr Cottrell to produce campaigning material in support of Reform UK, and for his security during a period in which he was campaigning for Reform UK, engages this definition, such that Mr Cottrell’s donations are subject to regulation through having been made in connection with Mr Farage’s political activities in his capacity as a regulated donee.
And, in a statement to journalists, Turley said:
Serious allegations of rule breaking are already being assessed by the Parliamentary authorities. It is now abundantly clear that Mr Farage may have not only broken parliamentary rules, he may have broken the law.
Farage can’t brazenly brush this off as being “none of your business” any longer. He needs to own his self-inflicted scandal and prove he’s not been secretly breaking the rules and taking the British public for fools.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.45am: Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, takes part in a Q&A at the Institute for Government.
10am: Kemi Badenoch gives a speech on defence.
10am: Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, hosts an LBC phone-in, standing in for James O’Brien.
10am: Lord Robertson and General Sir Richard Barrons, two of the three authors of last year’s strategic defence review, give evidence to the Commons defence committee on the defence investment plan published last week.
11.30am: Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
After 12.30pm: MPs debate two Conservative party opposition day motions. The first urges the government to back the Tory plan to save summer jobs, and the second says the government should legislate to exempt sex offenders from the prisoner early release scheme.
1pm (UK time): Keir Starmer is due to arrive at the Nato summit in Turkey. His engagements in the afternoon include a meeting with the Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre and a dinner with other leaders.
2.20pm: Louise Casey, the official leading a review of adult social care for the government, gives a speech to the Local Government Association.
2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, gives evidence to the Lords justice and home affairs committee.
3.30pm: Badenoch speaks at Politico’s Playbook live event. Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, is speaking at 5.05pm.
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