Nigel Farage hits out at media over report of house purchase following gift
Jonathan Bunn – PA Political Reporter
Nigel Farage has insisted there was no connection between the £5 million gift from billionaire donor Christopher Harborne and a £1.4 million property he bought soon after.
Property records show the purchase of the house was completed in May 2024, weeks before he decided to stand in the general election, according to Sky News.
A Reform UK spokesperson told the Press Association both the offer and purchase process commenced before the gift from Mr Harborne.
They added: “Mr Farage had already passed proof of funds and the relevant checks before receiving the gift.
“The purchase was therefore already proceeding independently of it.”
The Press Association understands Reform UK is considering legal options in response to the report.
Commenting on Twitter, Mr Farage said: “This is fake news by the establishment media who will do anything to hurt Reform as we challenge their cosy consensus.
“I had passed proof-of-funds and the relevant checks before receiving the gift.
“Sky News did not publish that part of our statement despite knowing the truth.”
Mr Farage is facing an investigation by the Commons sleaze watchdog over the £5 million gift from Mr Harborne.
The Reform UK leader was referred to Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg over the undeclared gift from the Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor in 2024.
Mr Farage has previously insisted there is “no case to answer” over the gift, which he said was not connected to his political activity and was needed to pay for private security for the rest of his life.
He is reported to have received the money in 2024 before he announced he would stand in Clacton at that year’s general election.
The Press Association understands the commissioner has opened an investigation under rule five of the MPs’ code of conduct, which specifies new MPs should register relevant financial interests received in the 12 months before their election within one month of entering Parliament.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, Mr Farage said the gift was given on a “completely unconditional basis”.
He said: “Frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.”
When it was suggested the gift may have influenced his decision to return to public life, Mr Farage said: “I can’t be bought by anybody, not even Elon Musk.”
The tech billionaire had a warm relationship with Mr Farage before Mr Musk called for him to be replaced during a dispute over his support for right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “He wanted to give us a load of money if I said certain things publicly and I refused.
“I didn’t do it so I made an enemy of Elon Musk, but that shows you I am my own man. I make my own mind up.”
In 2018, Mr Farage was reportedly docked £35,000 – half his monthly salary as a member of the European Parliament – following claims he misspent EU funds.
Mr Farage was said to have been investigated over accusations his office assistant had not been working on EU matters, the BBC said.
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Yeah, we see you Nige.
Now saying in a Sun exclusive the £5 mil money was for campaigning for Brexit.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the £5,000,000 “gift” ended up with Farage’s entire public life falling apart. With opportunists like Farage and Trump, once one card in the house of cards moves, the entire structure starts to weaken.
Or at least it would happen that way with Trump if he hadn’t largely dismantled all protections that the state and public have against the criminally inane oligarchy.
When a Muslim preacher publicly calls for gay people to suffer and die because they don’t deserve to be treated as human beings, they are rightly regarded as extremists. When it’s a Christian preacher – in this case Stephen Clayden, who has referred to homosexuality as an “abomination” – it’s a matter of free speech and upholding traditional Judeo-Christian values. Ask yourself why these people are so obsessed with policing consensual adult relations – and why these very same people only ever seem to care about weaponising “child protection” as a cudgel against LGBTQ+ people when they don’t have any… Read more »
Proving he is joined to Trump as the chattering boil on his butt with identical DNA, he speaks the very same copycat language of ‘fake news’. No coincidence.
Why all the fuss about a minor party that spends most of the time losing, Six MPs lost in Caerphilly lost in Gorton and Denton lost in Wales and lost in Scotland. Farage and his fellow fascists are a joke they won’t last another 6 months let alone ever be a governing party
Thats the trouble with the brexaholic Farage, he always insists on scrutiny and accountability for other politicians but when it applies to him and other Reform muppets he goes all Trumpish and accuses/blames the media of bias and smear campaigning when they are just doing their job. The truth is Farage is one of the most unethical and unsuitable politicians, he only likes to here his own copious amounts of verbal diarrhea and cries like a petulant teenager when he is challenged on his own conduct and opinions, much like the dubious £5million foriegn donation and house purchase , it’s… Read more »