Nigel Farage speech: Reform leader admits aides' donation comments were 'problematic' amid protester interruptions

Reform’s head of policy James Orr and long-serving Farage aide Dan Jukes have stepped down and the party has launched an investigation following allegations they breached political donation rules by having polling paid for by an overseas company.

But Mr Farage has insisted “nothing illegal” had happened, while Mr Jukes has denied any wrongdoing and said it was a case of entrapment.

Speaking to reporters at the Reform party conference in Birmingham earlier today, Mr Farage again denied that his party had broken any laws or taken any illegal money.

But he acknowledged that comments by Mr Orr and Mr Jukes were “injudicious at best”.

Asked about footage recorded by undercover reporters in which Reform officials appeared to say they had previously disguised donations from foreign sources, Mr Farage said the claims were “loose pub talk, including a couple of boasts that simply were not true”.

The scandal has threatened to overshadow the party’s conference in Birmingham, with members engaged in intense debate about the fallout.

During his conference speech, to rapturous applause, he said: “I want to be clear: the party has done nothing wrong.”

But he said Mr Orr and Mr Jukes’ comments were “problematic”, adding: “Some of the comments made by two of our team were injudicious at best.”

He claimed: “We have been the subject of a highly coordinated campaign of attacks.”

The conference speech was delayed due to a security alert, and then it was interrupted on multiple occasions by protesters.

He said: “We have another year and another Prime Minister - the seventh in 10 years.

“What clearer sign that Britain is broken that even our politics doesn’t work any more.

“I wonder what this new Prime Minister Andy Burnham will actually do.”

Mr Farage criticised Mr Burnham for his new Manchester base No10 North: “What does that mean it means bigger government, more taxes and of course more failure.”

The Reform UK leader claimed that in “the first 100 days we will make fundamental changes in how this country is run”, saying that he would sack any Cabinet ministers that weren’t delivering.

He said he would declare a “national emergency” to cries of “finally” from the crowd.

Mr Farage said he would force Parliament to sit night and day, potentially hold a referendum on the House of Lords and change how judges are selected.

He appeared to threaten a purge of the civil service, adding: “This plan is bold.”