Nigel Farage latest: Reform leader acted incorrectly over gifts, says new poll as approval ratings slip

The Electoral Commission is “carefully considering” undeclared donations to Nigel Farage from George Cottrell, the Labour Party has claimed.

The party’s chair Anna Turley has now urged the body to investigate further allegations surrounding donations from convicted criminal, saying: “The mountain of sleaze engulfing Reform just keeps growing.

“If George Cottrell has been bankrolling Reform’s offices in secret, that is against the law and Reform must face the consequences.”

In a letter to the Electoral Commission’s chief executive, Vijay Rangarajan, Ms Turley said: “Dear Mr Rangarajan, Thank you for your letter of 9 July replying to my letter of 6 July, in which you confirmed to me that the Electoral Commission is carefully considering recent media reports about undeclared donations to Nigel Farage by George Cottrell.

“I wanted to write again to ask that you take into account further media reports about additional undeclared donations to Reform UK by Mr Cottrell, which have allegedly taken place since the 2024 General Election.

“According to The Sunday Times, Mr Cottrell paid some of Reform’s office costs, with the exact amounts unspecified but allegedly exceeding the declaration threshold for donations:

“George Cottrell used his own money to cover office costs totalling thousands of pounds for Reform after the last election and as recently as last year, sources have told Insight.

“The crypto-gambler repeatedly used his personal bank card to buy computer tools and software to be used by the party’s staff. However, none of the donations were declared to the Electoral Commission as required by legislation.”

Despite claiming that ‘nobody owns him’, Nigel Farage has only ever proven himself to be “up for sale”, former No 10 special advisor Cleo Watson has said on last week’s bonus episode of In The Room.

“It’s a massive illusion. This is not an underdog.” Cleo’s co-host and ex-deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara said.

“This is a man entirely of the establishment: privately educated, worked as a banker, went into politics.”

Listen to the full episode here:

Shabana Mahmood could threaten visa penalties to put pressure on Pakistan to take back grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed, the victims minister has suggested.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Catherine Atkinson said: “I understand that the home secretary will be having more to announce on this later today.

“She has been absolutely clear that this government will take action to see Shabir Ahmed removed, and we’ve seen the success that she has had when it comes to removals in previous cases.

“I think she threatened visa penalties for Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless they took back illegal immigrants. And four months later, all three were co-operating.”

The minister did not rule out that the home secretary could agree to return political dissidents to Pakistan in exchange for the country accepting Ahmed back

A minister would not say whether changes to the law to allow for the deportation of grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed will come in the form of fast-track emergency legislation.

“I haven’t seen any emergency legislation, but the Government has been clear that it will take the steps needed to try and ensure that we are able to do what we want to do and not have men like this in our country,” justice minister Catherine Atkinson told BBC Breakfast.

Asked what the UK would do if Pakistan says no to taking Ahmed back, she said: “What we have already seen is in relation to other countries and the returns policies that have previously said they wouldn’t take people, Shabana Mahmood has taken some really strong steps to ensure that that has changed.

“So I very much hope and anticipate that there will be a way through, and that’s what the Home Office has been determined to deliver.”

She said no options had been ruled out in terms of steps to put pressure on Pakistan, but would not speculate on what they could be.

She said the fact that Ahmed had renounced his Pakistani citizenship was “a legal issue that needed to be overcome”.

The home secretary is due to set out changes to the law to allow for the deportation of Rochdale grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed.

Shabana Mahmood is expected to set out proposals on Monday to amend a 1971 law preventing the removal of Ahmed, who was released from prison earlier this month.

However, it is understood that Pakistan is unlikely to take him back.

Ahmed was released on 2 July after serving 14 years since his conviction in 2012 for rape and sexual offences against girls, some as young as 12. He had been sentenced to 19 years in prison.

The Government has been examining ways to deport him since his release last week. The 1971 law forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.

Ms Mahmood is expected to detail a way to close the loophole in the Immigration Act which prevents his deportation even though he has already been stripped of his British citizenship.

It is not clear whether Ms Mahmood’s planned changes will come under separate fast-tracked legislation or as an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is due to be debated in the Commons on Monday.

The UK economy is expected to have remained stagnant for another month, with industries under pressure and geopolitical tensions hindering growth.

Economists widely anticipate GDP either flatlined or declined in May, following April’s 0.1 per cent slip. This marked a sharp pullback from 0.3 per cent growth in March and 0.4 per cent in February, the first contraction since last August.

A campaigner whose son died in the Hillsborough disaster says she is “over the moon” amid news a proposed law to improve accountability in public office is likely to clear the House of Commons this week.

The law change, officially known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, would create a legally-enforceable duty of candour which compels public officials and authorities to act transparently when investigations and inquiries take place.

It takes its name from the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 97 Liverpool fans were killed at the football stadium in Sheffield in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final match.

Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the disaster, told the Daily Mirror she was “absolutely delighted, over the moon, absolutely made up”.

Deputy prime minister David Lammy said he was “confident” the draft legislation would be back “in the coming days” at the despatch box last week, but other Government figures suggested it would not return until after the summer recess.

If passed, the Bill could form one of Sir Keir Starmer’s last acts as prime minister.

Ms Aspinall, who chairs the Hillsborough Family Support group, told the newspaper: “When I was speaking to Keir Starmer, I told him this would be a lovely legacy for you to leave behind.

“I always believed he wanted to give us the Hillsborough Law. It was others stopping him. Now it’s done.”

She continued: “Our families have worked hard for this, but it’s not for us, it’s for the country. We’ve done it for the people of this country. I’m so proud.

“People have to tell the truth, whoever they are. The lies have cost millions. The cover-ups have cost millions. The truth costs nothing.”

Kemi Badenoch now has the highest approval rating of any party leader after Nigel Farage suffered his biggest drop since the election.

The latest Opinium poll found that the Tory leader’s approval rating has improved to -3 percentage points, while Mr Farage’s has fallen sharply to net -27, which is his lowest rating of this parliament.

Ed Davey remains on -5, Andy Burnham stands on -8, Zack Polanski improves slightly to -16, and Keir Starmer falls to -45.

Farage’s decline is also reflected in his leadership attributes, Opinium found.

His weakest ratings are for being trustworthy (-32), looking like a prime minister-in-waiting (-26), and being trusted to make big decisions (-24).