Nigel Farage Claims Establishment Hit Job Over Sleaze Probe

Nigel Farage has claimed he is the victim of “an establishment hit job” as he faces a fresh sleaze probe into financial support given to him by a convicted criminal.

The Reform UK leader insisted he had “done no wrongdoing” after he was reported to the parliamentary standards commissioner over his relationship with George Cottrell.

The Sunday Times reported that Cottrell – known as “posh George” – provided funding for Farage’s staffing and security, as well as the use of a London townhouse, before he became an MP.

Under parliamentary rules, new MPs need to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

Farage said: “I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times.

“It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”

Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, said on Sunday that Cottrell, who was convicted of fraud in the US in 2017, is an “old friend” of Farage and has “no formal role within Reform”.

However, The Times reported on Monday that he handed out a business card printed with the Reform UK logo and Nigel Farage’s official email address.

Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde has written to the standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg urging him to investigate Farage’s links to Cottrell.

He said: “Mr Farage has made a career out of ‘taking back control’, but he is not being straight with the British people about who controls him.”

Greenberg is already investigating a £5 million “gift” Farage received from the Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne before the general election but did not declare.

If he is found to have broken the MPs’ code of conduct and suspended from the Commons for more than 10 days, he could face a by-election to hold onto his Clacton seat.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage and Reform are engulfed in a huge and growing scandal.

“It’s not going to go away, and trying to take the public for fools by saying it’s ‘none of your business’ won’t help.

“These new allegations of secret payments from a wealthy convicted criminal are on top of the ongoing scandal of his secret £5 million gift from a crypto billionaire.

“How much money has he been given, what did his donors get in return, and why has he tried to cover them up and avoid legitimate questions?

“Time and again Farage pretends to be on the side of working people.

“In reality he’s just in it for himself and can be bought by the highest bidder. He’s completely unfit for high office.”

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