A close aide of Nigel Farage has appeared to say the Reform leader should not have said his £5m gift was a reward for Brexit, undercover footage has shown.
For months, Farage has faced scrutiny over the undisclosed £5m sum he received from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. The Reform UK leader is the subject of a parliamentary watchdog investigation into whether he should have declared the money, with an outcome expected any week now.
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Farage initially stated the sum was for security, but in an interview with the Sun he then said it was “given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.”
Now, in a previously unseen clip from Verbatim’s undercover investigation into Reform which has been seen by the Guardian, one of Farage’s closest aides has suggested the Clacton MP should not have said the money was a Brexit reward.
In the clip, Jukes tells an undercover reporter that Farage’s comment was “not the line to take from the press office.”
During a conversation about the £5m gift to Farage, the reporter tells Jukes that it “seems like it’s been quite tough.”
“I’m a realist and I bat straight and it’s a little bit awkward,” Jukes said, as he appeared to admit that Farage was not meant to change his explanation about the £5m.
Jukes continued: “That was not the line to take from the press office. So I think now the line is it was a thank you for Brexit to pay for security so he is safe for the rest of his life.”
He went on to say that Farage making money from politics is “a bit priced in.”
Jukes resigned Reform following Verbatim’s investigation into whether the party was looking to accept foreign donations that would break electoral law.
An internal Reform investigation into the allegations concluded that neither Jukes or another senior party official, James Orr, broke law on foreign donations. A police investigation is ongoing.