To think Count Binface is doing a great job in the Clacton by-election?

[Darker]

Count down to Bin Day!

Count Binface has been out bigging-up Clacton and drawing attention to its potential.

It’s a really positive campaign.

I don’t think he’ll win but I’d love it if he did. I think he’d be brilliant.

And if he doesn’t, I think other candidates could learn a lot from his approach.

Has anyone actually seen Nige since his big win?

A rebuttal was issued which doesn't prove anything, as there was no proof that it was or wasn't true.

All donations will have to be declared unless you are Nige and think it's just a piece of paper.

@MyKittyKatty if I posted something here about you that wasn’t true, without evidence, would that be ok? Because that’s kind of where we are going with this.

GMB would not have apologised if they didn’t have to. It’s not a good look.

No, we are not "kind of" going anywhere that you suggest.

"Good Morning Britain issued a correction on the programme this morning. The presenter clarified that while Vince had offered to donate money to Binface he never accepted any, and that he had never asked Conservative and Labour activists to campaign for him. "

^^ that's a "correction/clarification", not an apology.

As I understand it, apologies are made to a person who has been maligned and that person is named.

A correction is an admission that what Nadhim alleged was wrong.

What is more important to you? The truth or the freedom to say whatever you like if it suits your agenda?

Well,we’ll find out when the election expenses are published.

Indeed they do!

To The Electoral Commission:

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-registration-and-regulation/financial-reporting/donations-and-loans
Reporting a donation or loan
Political parties
Political parties have to report donations and loans to us if they are above or aggregate to over:
£11,180 to the central party (or over £2,230 if the donor or lender gives further during the calendar year)
£2,230 to accounting units (sections of a party whose finances aren’t managed directly by the party’s headquarters)

Individuals
Individuals who are members of political parties or are holders of elected offices must report donations and loans to us if they are above or aggregate to over £2,230.

Thank you, Reform, for bringing to everyone's attention that donations must be correctly reported! Even if it's 5 million quid they found down the back of a mate's sofa in Thailand.

It's like they can't help themselves...

(And I think it's going to be hard to argue that the man who owned Reform UK when Harborne made his donation was not a member of Reform UK...)

Dale Vince: “Reform plays fast and loose with the truth, not just dodgy donations. There are five million (secret) reasons why complaining about someone else’s funding is just plain daft. Even if it were truth as opposed to fantasy."

https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/17/reforms-nadhim-zahawi-accused-of-fantasy-after-falsely-claiming-labour-backer-dale-vince-bankrolled-count-binface/

I worked out CB got high 90sK from the £3 donations and he closed the Kofi route to do so pretty early on IIRC.

Just because some politicians end up paying £5 million to HMRC due to a "careless mistake" in capital gains tax that they initially said was a smear campaign (Nadim Zahawi) doesn't mean they're all without any sort of financial moral compass.

Thank you @hedgeknight .

£5 million is a bit of a recurring theme in Reform, isn’t it?

A correction is an admission that what Nadhim alleged was wrong.

No. Not at all.

It seems you don't understand the principles of journalism.
Balance in journalism is essential and refers to the ethical guideline of incorporating diverse viewpoints, particularly contrasting ones, into reporting on contentious issues to foster impartiality and thoroughness.

This what GB News has done.

It was only just over £5k that Zahawi had to pay back after mistakenly claiming expenses for his heated stables

It's the only thread on MN they are invested in

Since when has saying a correction is what it says on the tin been against guidelines @MNHQ?

Some weird deletions there… ! What’s going on?

For anyone who hasn't seen it. The little sparkly 'spin doctor' is apparently Mrs Countess Binface.

Dale Vince has refuted that he bankrolled Count Binface in a Linked-in post, saying that no-one in Reform even asked him.

My husband met Dale Vince in a work capacity (journalist, interview) and really, really liked him. He's met everyone and very often doesn't. Long before all this, he told me he thought him "genuine" and "straight".

It was an open and public offer by Dale, no subterfuge or shame, but if he's saying it didn't happen and CB is saying it didn't happen, I know who I believe over NF and Nadim Z.

I doubt Binface would have bothered with his online fundraising (to which I contributed) if Vince had donated £180k.

Agree, and as there has never been one word of criticism about his campaign funding over years, with the residue being given to charities like Shelter, it is a bit rich to expect us to believe the likes of "£5 million pound present" NF and " taxpayer can heat my stables" NZ over him.

The thing is that lots of people donated £3 (me too) without the expectation of anything in return.

£180k might come with some strings, real or imagined, and would call into question his independence.