Story perspectives

Metropolitan Police probe Reform UK over Political Parties Act breaches

By Drooid · Sep 11, 2026, 9:58 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Police Probe Reform

Metropolitan Police opened a criminal probe into Reform UK for breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
Detectives are obtaining footage from the Channel 4/Verbatim sting for the investigation.
No arrests have been made and no one has been interviewed under caution.
The probe also examines a prior £500,000 donation linked to George Cottrell’s mother.
Campaigners urge Labour to extend the £100,000 overseas donation cap to domestic donors.

Summary

Farage Plans Ukraine

Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, is discussing a possible visit to Ukraine with Ukrainian contacts.
Farage signed a memorandum with Jordan Bardella, National Rally leader, to return Channel-intercepted migrants to France.
Channel 4’s sting led senior Reform staff Dan Jukes and James Orr to quit over foreign-donation allegations.
YouGov and More in Common polls show Reform and Labour each at about 23 % support, ending Reform’s lead.

History

Historical Context

In March 2006, the Metropolitan Police began probing “cash-for-honours” after Lord Levy arranged about £5 million in loans to the Labour Party during the 2005 election, leading to 136 interviews and no charges in July 2007. The affair exposed loopholes in the 2000 Act’s donation reporting and spurred repeated calls to tighten party-funding rules.

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Police Probe Reform

Metropolitan Police opened a criminal probe into Reform UK for breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
Detectives are obtaining footage from the Channel 4/Verbatim sting for the investigation.
No arrests have been made and no one has been interviewed under caution.
The probe also examines a prior £500,000 donation linked to George Cottrell’s mother.
Campaigners urge Labour to extend the £100,000 overseas donation cap to domestic donors.

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