Nigel Farage latest: Reform donations ‘by fraudster’s mother’ probed by police ahead of Count Binface by-election – UK Times

A new poll by YouGov has found that 73 per cent of Britons think Nigel Farage is sleazy, while 69 per cent say the same of his party.

With answers ranging from very sleazy to not sleazy at all, 56 per cent placed the Reform UK leader in the highest categroy, with an additional 17 per cent finding him ‘fairly sleazy’.

This compares with 36 per cent finding the same of Andy Burnham, and 34 per cent finding Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sleazy.

Analysis by Kate Devlin, Whitehall Editor

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, a key ally of Burnham, has said the next PM might look at “other options” to fund defence rather than move money from within existing government spending.

That has been widely seen as a hint he could increase borrowing, rather than raise taxes, to pay for it.

On Wednesday an unexpected source, Keir Starmer, appeared to suggest his successor should borrow billions more to cover the hole left for him in the government’s defence investment plan.

The move would solve one headache for the new PM – especially since Labour has already lost one defence secretary in protest at a lack of defence spending.

But it risks leaving him with less ‘headroom’, or room to deal with other problems and potential shocks that arise.

To see the questions and my answers, scroll down. Make sure to press the “load more” button to read the full Q&A at 3pm.

Richard Tice has said his family have known the Cottrell family for 50 years, as he insists Fiona Cottrell is a permissible donor.

According to the Times, he Metropolitan Police has been investigating £500,000 of donations to Reform UK for more than a year.Fiona Cottrell, the mother of Mr Farage’s longtime supporter George Cottrell, is reportedly at the centre of the investigation, the paper reported.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Mr Tice dismissed the reports as a “politically motivated smear campaign”.

“I’ve known the Cottrell family, my family have known the Cottrell family, and the broader Hesketh family for 50 years, a very successful aristocratic family,” he told Times Radio.

“And, you know, that’s some, as far as I’m concerned, she’s a permissible donor. And that’s the end of it. And this is a politically motivated smear campaign by people who wish us ill.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the party would “wear our hearts on our sleeve” more than under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.

Mr Burnham requires just one more MP to nominate him to make it mathematically impossible for anyone to stand against him and Home Office minister Mike Tapp said he would back him when the Commons returns on Monday.

When MPs left Westminster on Thursday, Mr Burnham had the backing of 322 of the 403 Labour MPs.

The total means that there are still 81 Labour MPs left who could nominate another contender, the minimum needed to get on to the ballot, but Sir Keir and some other party office holders are unlikely to nominate anyone.

Even before nominations opened, Mr Burnham seemed almost certain to enjoy a coronation as the only declared candidate in the race to succeed Sir Keir, with him likely to take the party leadership at a special conference in a week’s time and then become prime minister on July 20.

Ms Nandy said: “No 10 for the North has attracted a lot of interest, but that really is about shifting the centre of gravity in the country, so that all parts of the country are seen and heard and are able to contribute.

“But the second thing that I think will be different is that I think we will wear our hearts on our sleeve more. I think people will see us taking the fight to any system that stands in the way of them living better lives.”

Nigel Farage said he believed he was facing the “anti-Trump playbook” amid scrutiny over his finances.

It was put to the Reform UK leader on TalkTV that the US president had posted about “the sort of anti-Trump playbook playing out on you” after Mr Trump shared a link to an article on his Truth Social platform.

Mr Farage said: “Well, that’s what I believe, and that’s why I thought, let’s put it to the public.”

He said there should be a general election as well as a by-election as Andy Burnham will have “no mandate of any kind at all, and the pubic are pretty sick of this game of musical chairs that goes on in No 10.”

On other parties boycotting the by-election, he said: “No, I didn’t expect them all to act together the way they did, but as I say, they are the uniparty.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy suggested that Andy Burnham might look at “other options” to fund defence rather than move money from within existing government spending.

Her comments leave open the prospect of Mr Burnham hiking taxes or increasing borrowing to provide the money needed to meet the UK’s Nato commitments.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today that “there are choices in front of a new prime minister about how to fund” the increase in defence spending that is needed.

“One of those choices, which is the choice that Keir Starmer made, was to find that money from existing spending,” she said.

“There are other options available as well.

“I haven’t discussed it in any detail with Andy Burnham, but I know he will want to look at that and make his own choices about… how he thinks the best way to fund that is.

“What I’m absolutely convinced about, having known him well now for 17 years, is that whether we fund defence is not going to be a question. The question will be how.”

The government will be “faster and bolder” under Andy Burnham than during Sir Keir Starmer’s time in No 10, a Cabinet minister said.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I think there will be two things that will be different under Andy Burnham.

“The first is that it will be faster and bolder and he’s willing to think very differently about how we deliver that change.

“No 10 for the North has attracted a lot of interest, but that really is about shifting the centre of gravity in the country, so that all parts of the country are seen and heard and are able to contribute.

“But the second thing that I think will be different is that I think we will wear our hearts on our sleeve more. I think people will see us taking the fight to any system that stands in the way of them living better lives.

“And I really think, at the moment, at a time when trust in the power of government to change people’s lives is very weak, that that is an enormously important thing.”

Both Nigel Farage and Reform are under mounting pressure over other reports about their finances.

Mr Farage faces questions about undeclared support provided by his long-standing ally George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster, following a Sunday Times investigation, while the Guardian suggested on Wednesday that bankers had raised concerns to the National Crime Agency through suspicious activity reports about at least four transactions involving senior Reform leaders.

These include the £5 million gift to Mr Farage and a £1 million donation from Mr Cottrell’s mother, Fiona, to Britain Means Business, described as a fundraising vehicle for Reform which deputy leader Richard Tice is a director of.

Mr Tice accused the NCA of leaking his and Mr Farage’s private information on Tuesday.