Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg interview at Reform's conference: tax and benefits, the undercover donations sting, investigations and his family

Nigel Farage, thank you for speaking to us this weekend. Um, this weekend, you're promising workers who earn £15,000 or less won't pay income tax in future. But that's less generous than the reform of 2024, when the threshold was £20,000. So, why are you less generous now?

And in order to pay for that tax cut, though, are you ready to take benefits from perhaps millions of people, many of whom do work in order to make that tax cut?

But in order to make those tax cuts on that kind of scale, you are promising savings in welfare of tens and tens of billions of pounds. That's going to affect UK citizens, too. You're not going to get those savings if you just take benefits away from people who've come here in the last few years. So, again, are you ready to take benefits from millions of Brits?

And even if that's people who are Reform voters, people in your own constituency, people in other Reform constituencies, and many of the seats that you hope to win, who are on benefits and perhaps in work, like millions of people on benefits are, you're ready to take it away from them.

Now, a big part of this conference, as you know, has been the revelations about two of your senior staff who were involved in conversations over many months in lots of different locations about the possibility of donations to reform or paying for polling. Now, you sat down with your former chief of staff and a supposed American father and son. They spelled out how they were planning to funnel foreign money to your party. What did you think was going on

Well, well, actually, I've got exactly what you said here. You said, "It's all above board."

sending money to UK to the UK.

Well, hang on, Kier. I've got what he told you. I run an American family office.

Did you not know that it was illegal for foreign firms to donate to UK political parties?

But were were you just not then paying attention to what he was

He said in your presence, "I run an American family

So, you weren't listening when you were discussing donations of thousands and thousands of pounds.

You say these two individuals but actually they were both two of your most senior staff. Dan Wootton worked for you for years. He would have normally been in this room. He was always by your side.

And he is recorded saying this happens all the time.

So, on the record today can you categorically say that foreign money has never been funneled to Reform UK

Never happened. Categorically deny it even though as you've admitted you weren't listening during a conversation like that.

So, you're the leader. The buck stops with you.

I'm asking why you think they they thought that was okay. These are people you knew well who worked right close to you alongside you.

Why did they think it was?

And it's not the first time that your party has been caught out by questions over our financial dealings that people have looked at very closely and thought, "That just doesn't add up." And currently you're being investigated questions over a 5 million pound gift.

What's your evidence it's a tactic? The police are looking at a half million pound donation given by someone

This isn't just about the society that we live in. There seems to be here a pattern of serious questions about how your party handles finances.

It will go on because you can't get a handle on it.

In terms of your how much attention you pay to the rules, your suggestion is that you're being unfairly targeted. This is deliberate tactics to go after you.

But you, this is the scrutiny that comes with you seeking prime minister.

But where is your evidence that questions about your financial affairs that are being asked again and again and again? Even your own mistake not reporting things properly to the parliamentary authorities on 17 different occasions. Where's your evidence that that's somehow a big stitch-up, a big plot? It sounds like you're just saying "Poor me."

You often though say in response to questions that you're being singled out, that it's a stitched-up. Last year you said "How dare you?" when somebody asked about your housing arrangements. You you told a journalist it was none of our business

here is not about the security threats, which as you say quite rightly are very real to many people in public life. The point here is how on your path to your dream of becoming Prime Minister, how you handle the scrutiny that comes alongside that. And one of your prominent supporters until recently said you sounded aggrieved.

Have you thought about packing it in and walking away? Your family

It has little local difficulties, doesn't it? You've lost two of your most senior people. You can't just laugh it off.

Isn't that going to be a terribly big problem? Because leaders have to take responsibility. And you

But it makes you angry that you have to deal with that.