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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Alexandra Topping Political correspondent

Reform councillors told to call donations inquiry ‘establishment stitch-up’

Reform Nigel Farage Burnham Reform UK George Cottrell YouGov Fiona Cottrell Sir Keir Starmer
Nigel Farage speaks at a podium during a Reform UK campaign rally.
Police are investigating donations worth £500,000 made to Nigel Farage’s party by the mother the crypto gambler and convicted fraudster George Cottrell. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Reform UK has instructed its councillors to describe a police investigation into donations from the mother of George Cottrell as an establishment stitch-up, as polling showed the party’s popularity plummeting.

Internal briefing documents circulated to the party’s councillors included instructions to respond to questions about a Metropolitan police investigation into party donations with: “It is now clear that the establishment will try anything to stop us”, the Times revealed on Thursday.

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