finance
Poll: 60 % of public say Farage acted incorrectly on gifts; 50 % of Reform voters disagree
A YouGov survey showed most voters disapprove of Nigel Farage's handling of a £5m gift. Separate government plans target deportation of a convicted offender while GDP data are due this week.
Jul 13, 3:10 AM·2m read1 source
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A YouGov survey for The Times found that 60 per cent of the public believe Nigel Farage has acted incorrectly over undeclared gifts. The Independent reported that 50 per cent of Reform voters said he behaved correctly while 17 per cent said he behaved incorrectly. Farage announced last week he would quit as MP for Clacton to stand in the ensuing by-election.
He received a £5m gift from crypto-billionaire and Reform donor Christopher Harborne and maintains the gift was personal and did not need to be declared. He is also facing questions over support provided by convicted criminal George Cottrell. Opinium polling showed Farage’s personal ratings have fallen to minus 27 percentage points and support for Reform UK has fallen by two points to 24 per cent.
The same poll found Kemi Badenoch’s approval rating at minus 3, Ed Davey at minus 5, Andy Burnham at minus 8, Zack Polanski at minus 16 and Keir Starmer at minus 45. Justice minister Catherine Atkinson told BBC Breakfast she had not seen any emergency legislation regarding deportation of Shabir Ahmed.
She stated the government will take steps needed to deport men like Ahmed and said Shabana Mahmood has taken strong steps to change returns policies with countries that previously refused deportations.
No options had been ruled out regarding pressure on Pakistan, she added, though 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 proposals on Monday to amend a 1971 law preventing the removal of Ahmed, who was released from prison on 2 July after serving 14 years since his 2012 conviction for rape and sexual offences against girls, some as young as 12.
