Nigel Farage’s No2, Richard Tice, said he was not aware of any more large undeclared gifts being given to senior Reform figures after his boss admitted pocketing £5million from a donor, but said voters ‘have to trust us’
Nigel Farage’s No2 has refused to rule out any more huge ‘gifts’ being handed to Reform politicians after his boss accepted £5million from a crypto billionaire.
Challenged by The Mirror, Richard Tice said voters “have to trust us” as questions mount up about the cash Mr Farage received from Reform donor Christopher Harborne. He also refused to answer our question on Mr Farage’s claim his phone had been hacked by Russian-backed sources – declining to say if and when the party reported it to police.
Mr Farage is being investigated by Parliament’s Standards Commissioner over the undeclared gift from Thailand-based Mr Harborne in 2024, before the general election. He claimed in an interview last month this only came to light because his phone was compromised by Russian hackers. But he is yet to produce any evidence.
Asked at a press conference whether any other Reform figures had taken large undeclared gifts, Mr Tice said: “None that I’m aware of.” Pressed by The Mirror on how proactively the party was trying to find out, he said: “Look, at the end of the day, we’re saying to people, you’ve got to trust us.
“Have I checked the bank account of every single member of the two-hundred-and-something-thousand Reform members? Don’t be daft.”
He said the party’s clear view is that it is complying with the rules. Mr Tice also stonewalled a question about Mr Farage’s hacking claim, refusing to confirm if Reform had contacted police and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and when.
When The Mirror pointed out it was puzzling that Reform would not confirm it had reported the alleged breach, Mr Tice said: “I don’t think the right thing to do is to give a running commentary on it that, it would actually probably just help our enemies.”
In April it emerged that Mr Harborne had given the huge sum to Mr Farage before he announced he was standing as an MP in 2024. Despite Parliamentary rules stating new MPs have to declare relevant gifts and donations in the previous 12 months, Mr Farage did not do so.
He claims it was an unconditional personal gift and initially said it pays for his security, before later describing it as a reward for campaigning for Brexit. In an interview he went on to claim his phone had been hacked. Reform has said this was reported to “the relevant authorities”, but has not said which ones.
Labour Party chair Anna Turley MP said: “It really shouldn’t be difficult for Reform to confirm they reported an alleged hack of their Party Leader by a hostile state to the police.”
After Reform refused to provide proof that it had been properly reported, Ms Turley reported the claim herself. She told The Mirror: “We only know about the alleged hack because Reform briefed it onto the front page of a Sunday newspaper – yet now they say it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment. It’s an absurd attempt to have it both ways.
“Tomorrow (Thursday) it will be 50 days since Nigel Farage gave a press conference. It’s time he called one tomorrow so he can finally come clean with the public over the deepening scandal over his secret £5 million “gift” from his Thai crypto billionaire backer. If he doesn’t the public will be left with no option but to assume he has something to hide.”
Responding to a question on why Mr Farage had not appeared at one of Reform’s regular press conferences, Mr Tice suggested journalists had begun to “get bored of them”.
He added: “But in all seriousness, it’s part of this whole point about proving that we are a growing team with people across a range of different groups, and Nigel is absolutely determined that this idea that we are just a one man band is nonsense.”
Pressed directly whether the Reform leader was scared of scrutiny over the gift, Mr Tice replied: “I think one thing you can say over the last 30 years is that Nigel Farage is not scared.”