Reform MP says information about Farage’s £5m gift was obtained ‘illegally’

A Reform UK MP has said information about Nigel Farage’s finances was “illegally” obtained, after the party’s leader claimed a Russian hack was behind the disclosure of a £5 million gift he received from a billionaire donor.

A party source reportedly told the Mail on Sunday that forensic analysis of Mr Farage’s phone by “counter-espionage experts” indicated that “hostile state actors, almost certainly linked to Moscow, had used ‘spear phishing’ tactics to compromise his phone, email and bank accounts”.

Mr Farage told the newspaper: “These actions by Russia are deeply concerning and highlight the threat they pose to British security.”

But the Reform leader is under growing pressure to provide evidence for his claim, made amid intensifying scrutiny over the £5 million gift from Thailand-based crypto-entrepreneur Christopher Harborne.

Reform MP Danny Kruger on Monday said he did not know whether Mr Farage had reported the incident to the police or the National Cyber Security Centre, but said information about his finances must have been accessed through illegal means.

Mr Kruger told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is clearly outrageous that a private gift made completely legitimately before Nigel was a politician, with no expectation of it being a public matter, should have been leaked.

“The only way that could have happened is that somebody has behaved illegally, somebody has obtained private information about Nigel’s finances.

“I think there does need to be some kind of investigation into that. I’m not sure how he will want to do it.”

Mr Farage has been urged to pass any evidence to the security services.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Russian interference in our politics is incredibly serious and all political parties have a responsibility to challenge it head on and ensure any potential instances of foreign interference are investigated.

“Given the seriousness of these claims, Nigel Farage needs to reassure the public that he’s reported this to the security services.

“He also needs to finally come clean as to how his secret £5 million ‘gift’ from his crypto billionaire backer was spent and why he failed to declare it.

“As every day goes by, Farage’s finances get murkier and murkier. He can’t keep stonewalling this issue and changing his story. The British people will only be left believing they can’t trust a word he says.”

The disclosure of the £5 million gift has prompted an investigation by Westminster’s standards watchdog into whether Mr Farage broke Commons rules by not declaring it after his election in 2024.

Mr Farage has said the money was a “personal” gift he received before deciding to stand for Parliament again, and was meant to pay for his private security for the rest of his life.

He later told The Sun it was a “reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years”.

Newly-elected MPs are required to declare any gifts received in the 12 months before their election, except where they “could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the House” or an MP’s political activities.

The Clacton MP faced further calls for transparency earlier this month after he was reported to have bought a £1.4 million house with cash in 2024, shortly after receiving the gift from Mr Harborne.

He said the gift was unconnected with the property purchase, which a party spokesman said had been paid for with his fee from appearing on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2023.

But analysis of Mr Farage’s company accounts, reported by the Financial Times, showed they were “not consistent” with his claims the fee from the reality show was used to purchase the property.

Reform UK has been contacted for comment.