Labour asks Met police to launch criminal inquiry into Reform UK donations after undercover report – UK politics live

Lee Anderson , the Reform UK chief whip and party chair, has said that James Orr and Dan Jukes – the two aides primarily involved in the apparent plot exposed by an undercover investigation to evade electoral law – were suspended and won’t be coming back.

In an interview on Sky News this morning, Anderson said:

double quotation mark [Orr and Jukes] were told they had to step down. They have stepped down. And that’s got to be the right thing to do.

The presenter, Kamali Melbourne, put it to Anderson that Orr, head of policy at the party, and Jukes, a key aide to Nigel Farage , were both very important figures in the party and asked if there was any chance they could “come back”. Anderson replied:

double quotation mark No, there’s no chance of them coming back. They’ve stepped aside.

We’re a serious party, you know, and sometimes in politics, you have to make tough decisions, harsh decisions. I think this probably was an easier decision, being given the option to stand down.

They have gone. Like I said, they’ve left the building and our focus now is on the conference today.