Reform UK ‘trying to distract from sleaze’ with launch of small boats mobile game

Reform UK has been accused of trying to “distract” voters from controversy over the party’s financial affairs after it launched a small boats mobile “game”.

Nigel Farage’s party announced the launch of its own mobile game on Monday, in a move that has been branded a “stunt and a gimmick” by political opponents.

The game, called Small Boat Scramble, will allow players to take command of a Royal Navy vessel to stop migrant boats reaching Britain.

The party said players will face “small boats, mega-dinghies and, every so often, a Boriswave”, with the person with the highest score over the next month set to win £5,000.

But the launch of the game comes as Reform is facing serious questions over two £36 million donations from crypto billionaires, which were made public over the weekend.

Questions have been raised over the legality of the donations, given the two benefactors - Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne - could be covered by a cap on overseas donors put in place by the Representation of the People Bill.

Labour accused Reform of launching the “game” as an attempt to “distract from the sleaze and scandal engulfing Reform UK”.

“While Reform play games, this Labour government is bearing down on small boat crossings, with arrivals this summer at their lowest level for six years,” a Labour Party spokesperson said.

“Nigel Farage is scrambling yet again to distract from the sleaze and scandal engulfing Reform UK - and the multiple police investigations into the party’s finances. Instead of stunts and gimmicks, he should come clean and answer the serious questions facing his party.”

Reform UK has also launched a SmallBoatWatch app, which allows users to track the number of migrants crossing the Channel each day.

“SmallBoatWatch puts the facts in the hands of the public. People shouldn't have to rely on politicians' promises to understand the scale of this crisis. Instead they can see it for themselves,” Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said.

“And Small Boat Scramble lets people have a bit of fun with a very serious issue. The British public are sick of watching politicians talk while the boats keep coming.”

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has admitted the £72 million donated to his party over the weekend may not be legal under upcoming legislation to clamp down on foreign political donors.

The government’s Representation of the People Bill will be backdated to March 25 and also apply to donations made in the first year that someone moves back to the UK, raising concerns over the location of Mr Delo ad Mr Harborne.

Mr Delo had been based in Hong Kong but stated in April he would move back to the UK to bypass limits on foreign donors, while Mr Harborne was resident in Thailand before reportedly registering to vote in Hampshire in June.

Mr Farage told the BBC on Monday that while he believed the two donations were “compliant” with the law as it stands, suggested they would not be acceptable as a result of a law change.

He went on to say that if the donations were deemed impermissible retrospectively, Reform UK would advocate a cap on trade union funding to political parties, which would serve as a major blow to Labour.

"Both these donations are 100 per cent compliant with the law today, of that there is no question whatsoever," Mr Farage said.

He was subsequently asked whether Mr Delo and Mr Harborne were resident in the UK on 25 March, as this status would affect their donations.

Mr Farage replied: "I’m not going to go into their particular details. All I’m going to say is, with the law of the land as it stands, they are both compliant.

"Now, there is talk, and Angela Rayner was talking about this yesterday, there is talk of them retrospectively declaring donations illegally. Well, that simply cannot be.”