Rattled Nigel Farage threatens ‘severe penalties’ after being quizzed on monetary advantages scandal
The Reform UK leader is accused of breaching parliamentary rules over claims he accepted staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell in the year before he became an MP.
Nigel Farage has lashed out at a journalist and warned them of “serious consequences” as pressure grows over allegations he failed to declare financial benefits from a convicted criminal.
The Reform UK leader is accused of breaching parliamentary rules over claims he accepted staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell – a rich aristocrat known as “Posh George”- in the year before he became an MP.
Asked about the allegations by Sky News at Heathrow Airport after he flew back from attending independence day celebrations in the USA, Mr Farage lost his cool and tore into the reporter.
Challenged on if it was a mistake not to declare the financial support he received from Cottrell, he said: “You tell your bosses, you harass my family any more there will be serious consequences. That’s what your organisation has done this morning. Go away.”
As the ex-UKIP boss walked away, the reporter asked again: “Was it a mistake not to declare the gifts, sir?”
A rattled Mr Farage then stopped walking away and came back, blasting: “Did you not hear me? You have broken all the rules, Leveson and everything else. Cut.”
The Reform boss is already under investigation by Parliament’s standards commissioner over an undisclosed £5million gift from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.
But over the weekend Mr Farage was again referred to the commissioner Daniel Greenberg after allegedly failing to declare financial benefits he received from a convicted criminal.
Under rules in place at the time of Mr Farage’s election in 2024, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
If found to have breached the rules, he could face sanctions including a Commons suspension that could trigger a recall petition and a by-election in his seat.
Labour has now urged the elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, to investigate the donations. The party has asked the Electoral Commission to investigate whether the support should have been declared because Mr Farage was a prominent figure in Reform even before he returned to frontline politics.
The party also questioned whether Montenegro-based Cottrell was a permissible donor, claiming it was not clear whether he was on a UK electoral register at the time.
Anna Turley MP, Chair of the Labour Party, said: “This scandal isn’t going away the more Nigel Farage tries to avoid scrutiny – it’s only getting worse. The time for him to be straight with the public is long overdue. The Reform Leader must put all the evidence on the table if he is to clear his name.
“Serious allegations of rule breaking are already being assessed by the Parliamentary authorities. It is now abundantly clear that Mr Farage may have not only broken Parliamentary rules, he may have broken the law.
“Farage can’t brazenly brush this off as being “none of your business” any longer. He needs to own his self-inflicted scandal and prove he’s not been secretly breaking the rules and taking the British public for fools.”
Last week a Reform spokesman told The Mirror : “George Cottrell is an unpaid volunteer with no formal role at Reform UK, like many thousands of party members. The business card was designed to help donors or other members of the public easily get in touch with Nigel Farage ’s office.
“It was not intended to suggest any formal position or authority. Mr Cottrell has never held an official role within the party.”
