Reform UK leader Nigel Farage refused to answer questions on BBC Breakfast on the undeclared £5million gift given to him by Christopher Harborne in 2024
Rattled Nigel Farage got tetchy about his £5million gift from a crypto billionaire during a heated TV grilling.
The Reform UK leader refused to answer questions on BBC Breakfast on the undeclared sum given to him by Christopher Harborne in 2024, shortly before he announced he would stand in the general election.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched a probe into his failure to declare the seven-figure gift from the Thailand-based tycoon. Parliamentary rules state new MPs must declare relevant gifts and donations in the previous 12 months.
He claimed in an interview last month that the gift only became public knowledge because his phone had been compromised by Russian hackers. He has so far failed to produce any evidence to back up this claim.
Mr Farage has been surprisingly camera shy in recent weeks but broke cover today to give interviews to mark the anniversary of the Brexit vote. But he appeared rattled when grilled over the gift.
Asked if it had cost his party the Makerfield by-election, he said: “No one cares, apart from the media, no one cares. No one cares at all.”
Told the Parliamentary standards watchdog cared enough to investigate he said: “You’re right. There’s been a complaint received, a complaint from the Conservative Party chairman. They’re investigating it. We’ll see what they’re saying. I’m absolutely convinced I’ve done nothing wrong in any way at all.
“I also know that since I was elected as an MP, I’ve taken zero in personal expenses. I’m very careful and very cautious about these things. I believe it to be a wholly private matter. The standards commissioner may take a different view.”
Mr Farage has given varying explanations for the gift. He initially said it was to pay for his security but later described it as a reward for campaigning for Brexit.
Asked what it was for, he said: “Let’s be clear, it’s an unconditional gift. I can spend it on cars if I want to. It’s entirely up to me, right.
“But there is a specific reason for this. I have been physically the most attacked and endangered politician in Britain for now well over a decade. At every stage during that time, when I’ve asked the state to help and support, most times they have point blank refused.”
He said it was “none of your business” how much of it he had spent, before asking the interviewer: “How much of your salary do you spend on beer, on petrol? It’s none of your business.”
Mr Farage then said he didn’t regret not declaring it and claimed voters wouldn’t care if he had £5million in his bank account.
In a separate interview, he claimed the gift was a “reward for giving up a quarter of a century of my life”.
Asked about the gift, Mr Farage told LBC: “I was given the money unconditionally. I believe it was a reward for giving up a quarter of a century of my life, giving up a huge income in the City of London, putting up with lots of abuse.”
Asked about reports that he bought a property shortly after receiving the gift, Mr Farage said: “No, they can lie all they like, as I say, if I’m seen buying a round of drinks in a pub, they will say it came from that, it’s irrelevant.”
He added: “As for the property thing, that was completed, that was agreed, and the money was checked well before.”