WORKERS must stand against the billionaire class’s scapegoating of migrants, campaigners warned on Sunday after Nigel Farage’s attempted pivot away from Reform’s donations row.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Migrants (JCWI) hit back as Mr Farage said he would “take back control of the Channel,” while his hard-right party continued to battle another donations scandal following a Channel 4 investigation.

Senior Reform UK figures were caught on camera last week discussing how to bypass electoral laws in order to receive donations from foreign sources.

Following Mr Farage denying wrongdoing and his renewed attacks on asylum-seekers in an opinion piece in The Sun, JCWI advocacy director Seema Syeda said: “The billionaire-owned press and political party leaders from Farage to Burnham continue to scapegoat migrants.

“It’s up to the labour movement to use our resources, mass force and trade union strength to condemn this scapegoating, racism and stand up fiercely for migrants’ rights and working-class unity across constructed racial divides,” Ms Syeda told the Morning Star.

“As long as big capital exists, it will always find ways to control politics. Whether that’s through donations to far-right parties, funding opinion polling to undermine perceptions of left-wing popularity, or capturing governments with donations and lobbying.”

Responding to backlash in the wake of the Channel 4 sting, Mr Farage renewed his attacks on migrants by announcing an agreement with France’s far-right National Rally party that would “restore order — and stop the boats for good.”

He told the BBC on Sunday that he knew “donation law better than anybody” and said his aide Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr “should have done basic checks” before bringing potential donors to meet him.

He also said he “frankly wasn’t even listening” during a meeting with the undercover reporters in Clacton.

Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson called these excuses “desperate,” revealing “pathetic deflection tactics to try to distract from [Mr Farage] and his party’s shady finances.”

“The sleaze and scandals engulfing Reform aren’t going away. Farage needs to wake up, take responsibility and realise the buck stops with him,” she added.

Scottish Labour acting leader Dame Jackie Baillie said it was clear Reform “simply don’t think the rules apply to them.

“Nigel Farage and Reform were caught red handed and no amount of deflection and spin can change the facts.”

Stand up to Racism co-convener Sabby Dhalu told the Star: “The impact of Farage’s attempts to distract from his donation scandal by ramping up racist scapegoating — including his ‘stop the boats’ deal with Jordan Bardella — is clear: Blackshirt-style fascists blockading roads to Dover port.

“As night follows day, racism at the top feeds racism on the ground. These events demonstrate the real danger of ‘stop the boats’ rhetoric and underline the urgent importance of standing up to racism and mobilising against fascism wherever it emerges.”

And co-convener Weyman Bennett told the Star: “It’s not the small boats that are the problem; it’s the big donations from people with big yachts.

“People like Orr and his close right-hand adviser are not minor figures inside the party. They’re central to Reform’s organisation. It shows that the heart of their organisation is corruption.

“They’re not even in government, and they’re already corrupt. It shows that racism is the shield they use to hide their rotten underbelly.

“At their conference, they violently attacked people who tried to express free speech. This is a far-right populist party paving the way for fascism. Even mild criticisms exposing its hypocrisy about being different tell you we should not allow Nigel Farage to get away with this.

“Nevertheless, there is a danger that, although no longer topping the polls, they remain stubbornly high, reflecting a deep bitterness in society and the normalisation of racism. Socialist trade unionists must challenge not only the economic arguments but also the political and racial arguments used to divide our side.

“These are not legitimate concerns. There are arguments to divide and weaken working-class trade unions’ resistance. We are still the majority, and we have to build on that.”