Farage says he misspoke that he bought home in Clacton purchased by partner
Nigel Farage has said he misspoke when he said he bought a house in Clacton before the last election.
The Reform UK leader said last year he had bought a home in his Clacton constituency, but it was later reported that his partner had actually made the purchase.
He told Sky News: “I should have said ‘we’. All right? My partner bought it, so what?”
He said it was “her money” and “her asset”.
“I own none of it. But I just happen to spend some time there.”
He added: “I should have rephrased it. I didn’t want … to put her in the public domain.”
Purchase
Mr Farage’s deputy Richard Tice had earlier said the party leader’s tax affairs are “irrelevant” to voters.
Questions about the purchase have resurfaced after Angela Rayner resigned on Friday over underpaying stamp duty on a seaside flat she bought this year.
Mr Farage said the resignation of the deputy prime minister “screams to entitlement” during his speech to the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.
Mr Tice, the party deputy, was asked on Saturday whether Mr Farage would be transparent about his tax affairs and address questions over his partner buying the Clacton home.
He told Times Radio: “I’m pleased to confirm I’m not his tax adviser. You’ll have to speak to them.
“It’s irrelevant to what voters are concentrating on, which is our messaging, which is the message of hope. We can get out of this nightmare that we’re in.”
Mr Farage has denied the arrangement had saved tax, telling The Mirror it was a “disgusting allegation” that is “unfair and untrue”.
Tax reductions
Separately, Mr Farage has also reportedly been using a private company to reduce how much tax he pays on his GB News media appearances and other work outside being an MP.
He has declared payments of more than £300,000 in the past year for hosting a show on the channel.
The Guardian reported that he diverts money earned from the show into his company, Thorn in the Side Ltd, meaning he paid only 25% corporation tax on profits rather than 40%.
The use of personal service companies is not illegal but has been criticised in recent years.
Mr Farage told Sky News he had “massive outgoings” and employed contractors when asked if he was using the company to pay less tax.
“No, I’m using it legitimately because I run a company that has overheads,” he said.
Asked if he paid less tax than he would if he was not doing it through a company, he said: “And there would be fewer people employed if I didn’t have a company”.
A spokesperson for Mr Farage told The Guardian: “Thorn in the Side Ltd has traded for 15 years and has a variety of interests. It renders the services of several contractors and is a properly functioning company.”
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He lied.
He probably did not lie, he probably stumped up the money but it was bought in his partners name, classic stamp duty avoidance as he owns other properties and she likely does not. If he bought the property in his name a higher rate of stamp duty would have been payable but his earlier statement reveals what has actually happened.
So you are defending a guy who is proudly not paying taxes due and then conveniently forgetting whose name he put on the paperwork. As leader of a political party and a guy who has his own tv show, surely he would fact check his own statements.
No, this is not defending him, he is into tax avoidance, as he is with his earnings from GB News. So the question that should have been asked of him is why “he” did not want to buy a property in Clacton since it was him and not his partner that represented the place. His original statement exposed what really took place, in his own mind, but he is never pressed on his own tax affairs which are as murky as any Tory.
Having told Laura Kuenssberg this morning that it would be an invasion of his privacy to reveal his personal tax arrangements tells you everything you need to know.
How come this man is getting so much attention? We can see the USA descending into utter chaos. I appreciate that the present government appears to be running around like a headless chicken and making its own mess of things but we still have a tenuous hold on democracy and yet we seem to have a large percentage of our population thinking Farage is an acceptable alternative. Do these people really think that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is NOT the definition of insanity?
As with Brexit there’s some that want chaos.
I think you’re right there, it gives a momentary feeling of power to smash everything.
I think you’re right too. And I have a nasty feeling that we’re going to find out what chaos is like next year
Trying not to imagine that some ordinary good folk in Wales might vote for private health care, private education and tax cuts for the wealthy in the name of ‘change’.
We had a referendum that seems to show That there are a lot of people who vote without thinking of the consequences of their vote.
A lot of people really do no deep thinking about politics, society or the problems facing the planet, they just follow a herd.
In my worst moments I think that too, and decades of individualism propaganda hasn’t helped. Both Labour and Plaid need to decide the best way to re-connect with their constituences, not just with a leaflet every four years.
>> He told Sky News: “I should have said ‘we’. All right? My partner bought it, so what?” He said it was “her money” and “her asset”. <<
So not really "we" either.
Ah, he misspoke. This is the case every time he opens his mouth. The problem he has here is that he couldn’t wait to wade in on the Angela Rayner housing complication and is now presenting an identical account which means he has to join her on the bench having been sent off but he makes the rules for all of us don’t forget. Not only is he the head of only a four strong carping group, one (him) who spends his time in the U.S., one in Dubai, one who wastes police time with lies and the last one… Read more »
You’d have to pay ME £300,000 to sit in a room and listen to this man. He’s as slippery and as slimy as they come. I hope every word that comes out of his mouth is scrutinised and critiqued until he gives up and goes away. This morning on Laura Kuenssberg he admitted Reform Ltd had no MPs with any political experience to know how to get anything done. All he knows is how to create division and unrest. Apparently Nadine Dorries is going to be their political guru. Great, that should see their scant credibility take a welcome nose… Read more »
Awful as it would be, I’d do it for £100k. It reminds me of Raglan services giving The Sun away free. I said I would need to negotiate a big payment to take one away and then I would stuff it in a bin on the way out. Dorries rocking up at Deform means Bozo will be there soon. Their downfall will be brought about by sub intelligent warring egos. Bring it on!
In order to avert criticism of him being an absentee MP for Clacton.
Farage lied to his constituents, telling them he had bought a home there.
Whatever the ownership/tax details are they resulted in him saving thousands of pounds.
The voters of Clacton should be told and reminded that he deliberately lied to them and to add insult to injury profited from duping them.
His ‘misspoke’ is anyone else’s ‘lie’
He keeps doing that. Anyone else remember “Up the RA”?
I have noticed that the loony left keep harassing him, not allowing him more than a millisecond to reply, so no wonder he was misquoted, again!