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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has issued a statement (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage said he was the victim of a “hit job” amid a new funding row. The Reform UK leader denied wrongdoing following reports that he received financial benefits from a convicted criminal.
He insisted he had “followed the rules” as a newspaper reported his long-time aide George Cottrell had paid for staffing, security and housing for Mr Farage in the year before he was an MP, which he did not declare. The Clacton MP told the Express the claims in The Sunday Times were an “establishment hit job”.
He added: “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.
rage’s social media before the 2024 general election, the report claimed.
The 32-year-old, known as “Posh George”, also reportedly paid for the Brexiteer’s security during the election campaign and allowed him to use a Georgian townhouse he rented near Buckingham Palace.
Under rules in place at the time, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where it “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
Mr Farage registered a £9,000 trip to Belgium donated by Mr Cottrell and later added £15,000 for a US domestic flight, but no other help.
Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick yesterday insisted “no rules have been broken whatsoever”.
Asked if Mr Cottrell paid for Mr Farage’s security and staff in 2024, Mr Jenrick told the BBC‘s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg he did, but that this was “before he became a Member of Parliament”.
He added: “A private citizen who’s worried about his own personal security – and by the way, every time Nigel has raised with the authorities his personal security and that of his family, because without question, he is the most endangered person in public life – the authorities have chosen to do next to nothing to help him. The question really is, did he need to report this?
“No, because it was a personal friend, and it was before he was a member of Parliament. There’s nothing to see here.”
Asked if Mr Farage stayed in a house rented by Cottrell, Mr Jenrick said: “I believe Nigel has said he stayed a couple of times there, very infrequently, as you’re allowed to.”
Mr Jenrick claimed there is a “smear” campaign against Mr Farage because Reform is leading national opinion polls.
He said: “It’s because Nigel is the only person who is going to bring about real change in this country, who is going to tackle the issues that the cosy consensus of… Labour and Conservative, and much of the media, have neglected to do for a long time.”
Parliament’s standards commissioner is already investigating whether Mr Farage should have registered a £5million gift from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne, which he said was to fund his personal security.
Health Secretary James Murray said Mr Farage has a “flexible relationship with transparency”, adding: “I think quite a lot of questions come up in relation to his finances.”
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell said the investigation into Mr Farage should expand to include benefits from Mr Cottrell.
Mr Cottrell first became involved in UKIP as a volunteer in the runup to the Brexit referendum.
He was jailed for eight months in the US in 2017 after admitting trying to defraud criminals on the Dark Web by posing as a money launderer.
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