Reform UK gets 75% of its donations from crypto entreprenneur pardoned by Trump

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The Straits Times. (2026, September 3). Reform UK gets 75% of its donations from crypto entreprenneur pardoned by Trump. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/reform-uk-gets-75-of-its-donations-from-crypto-entreprenneur-pardoned-by-trump

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Straits Times · collected 2026-09-03 · by The Straits Times

Quick Summary

Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, received a significant donation from Ben Delo, a crypto entrepreneur pardoned by Donald Trump after being convicted of a banking secrecy violation. The £4 million donation accounts for 75% of Reform UK's donations in the April-June quarter, with the party raising a total of £5.3 million. This is a notable increase from its mainstream opponents, but less than previous quarters. Delo announced his involvement in politics to "save Britain before decline becomes irreversible", and has been investing in the UK after returning from Hong Kong.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-03, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Reform UK, a British populist party led by Nigel Farage, has been embroiled in a scandal over foreign donations. The party received £4 million from Ben Delo, a crypto entrepreneur who was convicted of a banking secrecy violation in the US and pardoned by Donald Trump, accounting for 75% of its donations last quarter. However, an investigation by Channel 4 News found that Reform UK officials were secretly filmed discussing ways to circumvent UK electoral laws on foreign donations. Two senior officials, Dan Jukes and James Orr, have stepped down pending an internal investigation.

The undercover reporters from Verbatim posed as an American donor and his son who had paid for polling allegedly commissioned by Reform UK and were seeking to channel money to the party. Accepting donations from a foreign company can constitute a criminal offence, and the party has been reported to the police. The Liberal Democrats have also asked Parliament's standards watchdog to investigate the claims.

Farage has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying that his party had broken no laws and dismissing Jukes' comments as "loose pub talk." However, the footage appears to show senior Reform figures discussing how to disguise donations from foreign sources, which could be a serious breach of electoral law.

Written for “Farage's Funding Scandal” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 26 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Farage's Funding Scandal
Politics · 27 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Nigel Farage's Reform U.K. accused of breaking foreign funding law after undercover investigation same event · 90%
CBS News
⚖️ Centre further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on a donation from Ben Delo to Reform UK and the party's potential breaking of foreign funding law, indicating they are covering the same incident”
Farage says Reform is ready to tackle small boats, after conference donation row different event · 90%
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 13% hedged 2 of 15 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes a donation from a crypto entrepreneur pardoned by Trump, while Article B discusses a donation row and potential criminal offense related to foreign donations at the Reform UK conference”
Undercover report on donations ‘looks bad’ for Reform, admits Nigel Farage – as it happened different event · 90%
The Guardian
⚖️ Centre further left than this 🔴 11% hedged 9 of 85 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes a donation received by Reform UK, while Article B mentions an undercover report and comments made by Nigel Farage about donations in general, without referencing a specific event”
Why is Farage’s Reform accused of violating the UK’s foreign funding rules? different event · 80%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 10% hedged 5 of 49 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes a £4 million donation from Ben Delo, while Article B mentions allegations about circumventing UK electoral laws on foreign donations, but does not mention the donation itself”
Nigel Farage heckled as he denies Reform UK took illegal funding different event · 80%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes a donation received by Reform UK, while Article B mentions an address by Nigel Farage denying receipt of 'illegal funding' without specifying any incident or report”
Nigel Farage claims 'loose pub talk' in latest defence in growing Reform funding storm after undercover sting different event · 80%
Evening Standard
⚖️ Centre further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 19 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes a single donation by Ben Delo, while Article B mentions an 'undercover sting' and accusations of breaking laws, indicating a different aspect of the same incident”
Senior aides to U.K.'s Nigel Farage step down in scandal over undercover report different event · 80%
CBS News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 9% hedged 4 of 43 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on a £4 million donation from Ben Delo to Reform UK, while Article B mentions an investigative report and two senior aides stepping down due to allegations of breaking electoral law concerning foreign funding”
Nigel Farage defends himself over foreign donation claims different event · 80%
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 15% hedged 5 of 33 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes a donation to Reform UK from Ben Delo, while Article B mentions allegations about party funding and footage of senior figures discussing how to disguise donations, but does not specifically mention the donation itself”
Farage defiant as Reform aides step down over foreign donations sting different event · 80%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 16% hedged 4 of 25 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes a donation from Ben Delo to Reform UK, while Article B mentions an internal investigation and aides stepping down over foreign donations, but does not mention the specific donation”
Nigel Farage tells BBC he 'wasn't listening' during foreign donor talks filmed undercover different event · 80%
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 15% hedged 8 of 54 📰 publisher trust 69
“Article B discusses an undercover conversation about funneling foreign money, while Article A reports on a £4 million donation from Ben Delo”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
60/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
27
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-03 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 3082 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

The Straits Times
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 2024 articles by The Straits Times →

Topics

Britain British Labour Party Reform Reform UK

Subjects

Reform ORG · 4× Britain GPE · 3× British NORP · 3× Farage PERSON · 3× Harborne PERSON · 2× Labour Party ORG · 2× Reform UK ORG · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× LONDON GPE · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

Reform has only eight members of parliament but led opinion polls in Britain for most of the past two years, until the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his replacement by Andy Burnham in July revived the fortunes of the governing Labour Party.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-03
🔮 He stepped down from parliament and won re-election last month but could be removed and have to stand again if found to have broken rules.
2026-09-03 · The Straits Times
Reform UK gets 75% of its donations from crypto entreprenneur pardoned by Trump · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 2 hedged)

Reform UK gets 75% of its donations from crypto entreprenneur pardoned by Trump LONDON, Sept 3 - asserted
UK → get → Trump
Britain's populist Reform UK party received a £4 million donation from a crypto investor convicted of a banking secrecy violation in the United States and pardoned by Donald Trump, accounting for 75% of the party's donations last quarter. asserted
party → receive → donations
The party led by veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage received the big donation from Ben Delo, who announced this year he was returning to the UK from Hong Kong and involving himself in politics "to save Britain before decline becomes irreversible". asserted
decline → lead → Britain
In total, the party raised £5.3 million in the April-June quarter, more than its mainstream opponents but less than the more than £9 million it had raised in each of the two previous quarters, according to figures published by election officials on Thursday. uncertain
it → raise → Thursday
Delo pleaded guilty to a U.S. banking secrecy violation in 2022 after prosecutors accused his crypto company BitMEX of deliberately failing to maintain required safeguards against money laundering. asserted
prosecutors → plead → laundering
He was pardoned by Trump last year. asserted
He → pardon → Trump
Reform disclosed no donations in the quarter from its biggest donor, Christopher Harborne, another crypto entrepreneur. asserted
Reform → disclose → donor
Harborne is British-born and based in Thailand. asserted
Harborne → bear → Thailand
The British government has announced plans this year to tighten rules on political donations by British citizens who live abroad, and limit their contributions to £100,000. asserted
who → announce → 100,000
Reform has only eight members of parliament but led opinion polls in Britain for most of the past two years, until the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his replacement by Andy Burnham in July revived the fortunes of the governing Labour Party. asserted
resignation → have → Party
Reform's popularity has been dented since news emerged this year that Harborne had given Farage £5 million in 2024, which Farage did not declare. asserted
Farage → dent → which
Parliamentary officials are investigating whether that broke rules on declaration of political donations. asserted
that → investigate → donations
Farage denies wrongdoing and says the funds were a personal gift that did not require declaration. asserted
that → deny → declaration
He stepped down from parliament and won re-election last month but could be removed and have to stand again if found to have broken rules. uncertain
He → step → rules
Reform did not immediately respond to a request for comment. asserted
Reform → respond → comment
The governing Labour Party received £3.6 million in donations, excluding public funds, in the quarter, while the official opposition Conservative Party raised £2.8 million. asserted
Party → govern → million
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