Nigel Farage has given a lengthy interview, saying he did not break any rules in not declaring a £5m ‘gift’ or benefits in kind from convicted criminal George Cottrell.
Nigel Farage has given a fresh interview defending himself after facing questions in recent weeks over money and benefits in kind that he received ahead of the 2024 general election.
The Reform UK leader was placed under investigation by parliament’s standards commissioner in May after it emerged that he received £5m from billionaire Christopher Harborne just months before he was elected as the MP for Clacton, but had not declared it.
Mr Farage has said the money was an entirely personal gift, and so did not need to be declared under the rules mandating the declaration of money and benefits received in the 12 months prior to being elected.
In a new interview with the Triggernometry podcast, the Reform UK leader reiterated that argument, saying: “I have a legal document. [The money] is unconditional. I can do what I like with it. I can spend it on the horses. I can go and buy a Ferrari. I can do what I like with it. It’s an unconditional gift.”
Mr Farage said that “given the way the world is now”, the money will be used for “protection until the end of my days”.
He said he has not broken the law nor “fiddled” his expenses or misused public money, and added: “What is my sin?”
The Reform UK leader said that when he was completing the necessary paperwork after being elected, he was “tearing [his] hair out” at the requirements, and said the House of Commons is “not designed for anybody in business”, because “the whole thing’s impossible”.
He said he then consulted a “top international lawyer” to ask if he needed to declare the money, and they told him the gift is “unconditional” and “not related to political campaigning”, so he did not need to.
Mr Farage is also facing questions over his relationship with George Cottrell, who has previously been convicted in the US of wire fraud, who is reported to have given him benefits-in-kind that were also not declared.
He said Mr Cottrell, nicknamed ‘Posh George’, “got into trouble in America” when he was younger, and asserted that “if you are involved in tax avoidance schemes, it is very easy in America to get into very, very big trouble”.
He said once Cottrell had served his prison sentence in the US, people were telling him that he “must never see him again”.
“Well, I don’t do that. I don’t dump people,” Mr Farage stated.
“I do actually believe in Christian forgiveness. I think it’s part of what we are as a community, as a society. There are many, many people who fell off the rails as young men or women who have gone on to achieve great things in life for themselves and their communities.”
He added: “I’ve stood loyally with George because I think he deserves a second chance.”
Mr Farage said that he “perched in an office in one of [Mr Cottrell’s] London homes”, and that he provided him with social media and video support before he was elected to parliament.
The Reform UK leader insisted that that help is “not a matter of public interest or record”, and is “irrelevant” because at the time, he was not in politics, but was an “influencer”, a campaigner, a broadcaster, and in private business.
“It is literally no one’s business. It is totally undeclarable in every single way,” Mr Farage said.
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He added that he has “taken nothing from him since 3 June”, which was when he announced he was standing for parliament in the 2024 election, and that Mr Cottrell has not given money to Reform UK.
“The idea that his donation, or in particular his mother’s donation – this was reported to the NCA [National Crime Agency] in September 2024. The police followed up in the spring of 2025. Why is it now a story? It’s now a story because everything is being coordinated together to try and knock us out of the game,” he said.