NIGEL Farage has found himself at the heart of another dodgy donations scandal following an undercover sting operation.
An undercover Channel 4 report appears to show two senior Reform figures arranging for a US firm to fund three polls earlier this year, costing £32,500.
James Orr, head of policy, and Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Mr Farage, have both stepped back amid an internal investigation.
Mr Farage has insisted: “The party has done nothing wrong, taken no illegal money. In fact no money was taken at all.”
Speaking at his party conference this weekend, he dismissed the allegations as “a little local difficulty” and described the reports as “an exercise in entrapment”.
He added the row was built on nothing but “loose pub talk” – but it follows other probes including questions over a £5million gift which led to his resignation and re-election as an MP.
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UNDER FIRE
Farage insists Reform UK has ‘never taken foreign cash’ amid donations row
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‘They’re scared’ fumes Farage as he dismisses new scandal as ‘loose pub talk’
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Andy Burnham’s new migrant plan could see 42 UK areas ‘forced to take them’ – full list
Prime Minister Andy Burnham argued that wealthier communities should “play their part”.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham (Image: Getty)
More than 40 Labour-held seats face pressure to host extra asylum seekers under Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s preference for fairer distribution, an investigation has showed. The analysis identifies 42 Labour seats that rank above Bicester and Woodstock — the constituency covering the village of Piddington — on both median house prices of £390,000 and median weekly wages of £862.
Mr Burnham has faced local anger over plans to house 1,250 migrants at the MoD Bicester site near Piddington. In comments made last month, Mr Burnham argued that wealthier communities should “play their part,” saying: “We cannot have a situation where it’s only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers… I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part.”
The investigation, conducted by GB News, ranked the seats and found that 25 fall under local authorities currently sitting below their regional averages for supported asylum accommodation. These include Altrincham and Sale West, Battersea, Beckenham and Penge, Bexleyheath and Crayford, Chelsea and Fulham, Cities of London and Westminster, Clapham and Brixton Hill, Earley and Woodley, Eltham and Chislehurst, Greenwich and Woolwich, Hammersmith and Chiswick, Hampstead and Highgate, Harrow West, Hertford and Stortford, Hitchin, Holborn and St Pancras, Islington South and Finsbury, Kensington and Bayswater, Lewisham North, Leyton and Wanstead, North East Hertfordshire, Putney, Tooting, Walthamstow and Watford.
The remaining 17 seats are covered by local authorities already above their regional averages. They include Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Bethnal Green and Stepney, Chipping Barnet, Dulwich and West Norwood, Ealing Central and Acton, Finchley and Golders Green, Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Hackney South and Shoreditch, Hornsey and Friern Barnet, Lewisham West and East Dulwich, Poplar and Limehouse, Reading West and Mid Berkshire, Stratford and Bow, Streatham and Croydon North, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, and Welwyn Hatfield.
Across the 32 local authorities covering these 42 seats (plus 14 further constituencies), about 10,108 asylum seekers are in supported accommodation, according to recent Home Office data. The national total stood at 93,293 in June 2026.
GB News contacted all 42 Labour MPs; only Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) replied. Mr Coyle stated his area had previously hosted one hostel and two hotels under the Conservatives and was “proud to do our part,” while noting Labour had closed the hotels as part of faster processing.
Some listed MPs, including Diane Abbott, Catherine West, Emily Thornberry, Andy Slaughter, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Apsana Begum, have publicly supported greater provision for refugees.
Local resident Ian Darby in Piddington argued the 42 areas should take a population-based quota for fairness, while describing the proposed numbers for his village as disproportionate.
Mr Burnham has said he will listen to Piddington concerns. A consultation runs until September 17, with the Home Office having submitted an urgent planning application. The government continues efforts to end hotel use by 2029 while addressing what it sees as an uneven national distribution of asylum accommodation.
