Farage admits he failed to register US trip to headline Trump fundraiser

Nigel Farage has admitted that he failed to register a visit to the US to headline a fundraiser for Donald Trump.

It came after the Sunday Times reported the Reform UK leader did not disclose who paid for the trip to Florida in March to appear as a special guest at a Republican Party event in Tallahassee and did not report any possible earnings from it.

MPs are required to register visits abroad that cost more than £300 within 28 days if they are not wholly paid for by the MP or public funds.

They must also report any fees or payments in kind within the same timeframe.

Error

Mr Farage said in a statement that he failed to declare the trip because of an error by his office.

The Clacton MP said: “The trip to Florida in March was remunerated in three separate instalments over the course of two months. I emailed the details to my office in the normal way.

“Unfortunately, these submissions were not added to the register. This was an error. The travel arrangements were paid for by myself.

“A correction to the record will be made tomorrow along with an apology to the registrar.”

It was reported at the time that Mr Farage had missed Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of his appearance at the event.

Tables for top-tier “Trump sponsors” at the “Disruptors Dinner” were said to have cost 25,000 dollars (£18,440) and include photos with the Clacton MP and tickets to a VIP reception.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats had earlier called on Mr Farage to disclose how the trip was funded.

Anna Turley, chairwoman of the Labour Party, said: “Nigel Farage has failed to disclose who funded this US trip, refused to answer questions about his tax affairs, and changed his story about where he lives.

“Rather than representing his constituents in the UK Parliament to which the people of Clacton elected him, he’s been jetting off abroad to call for sanctions against our country, putting British jobs at risk.”

‘Suck up to Trump’

Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “Nigel Farage needs to come clean on who’s bankrolling his trips abroad to badmouth Britain.

“He uses every opportunity he can to talk down Britain and suck up to Trump while failing to represent his constituents in Parliament.

“The public deserve to know whether the Trump administration and their cronies are funding these trips, using Farage as a puppet to meddle in British politics.”

Mr Farage has also faced questions over his constituency home in recent weeks.

Last year, following his election as Clacton’s MP, Mr Farage claimed in a series of interviews that he had bought a house in his constituency.

But it subsequently emerged the property had actually been bought by his partner, Laure Ferrari, leading to accusations from the Labour Party that he had “misled” the public.

Tax experts

The Reform UK leader told the BBC on Friday he had had a “very expensive week” seeking advice from tax experts and “paid a lot of money to make sure we have done everything right”.

Mr Farage denied providing any money for the purchase and insisted the correct amount of tax had been paid.

He said: “The money was legally hers, she bought the house. I don’t have any financial stake in it whatsoever – other than she lets me stay there.”

Had Mr Farage bought the Clacton property himself, he would have been liable to pay a higher rate of stamp duty as he already owns at least one other property.

It would not be illegal for Mr Farage to gift or transfer money to his partner for her to buy a property in her own name and pay the lower rate of stamp duty.