Farage to face probe on £5m gift from Harborne
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is set to be investigated by the parliamentary standards committee after he received a £5m donation from Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before being elected as an MP.
Farage will be probed on whether he broke a code of conduct for MPs on failing to declare the large gift as the Reform leader has faced intense scrutiny over the terms of the donation.
The large gift was first discovered by The Guardian, with Farage then saying the gift was to pay for his security after his property had been attacked.
Opposition parties have questioned Farage on the donation, with the Reform UK leader becoming a key voice for crypto deregulation across the country. Farage is an investor in the Kwasi Kwarteng-backed bitcoin company Stack BTC.
Farage reportedly received the sum of cash just weeks before he announced his bid to stand as an MP in the 2024 election.
His critics have said that Farage should have declared relevant gifts and donations received in the 12 months before entering parliament.
The investigation could lead to his suspension from the House of Commons and force another by-election if it is deemed he has breached rules.
Farage to be probed
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has previously said that Farage complied with the rules and that the gift was designed to keep the key politician safe.
Labour and Tory MPs have accused Farage of attempting to dodge scrutiny and questioned his ties with Harborne.
Harborne, who is a large investor in the cryptocurrency Tether, has donated some £12m to Reform UK in the last two years.
He was previously a donor to the Tories and accompanied former Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a trip to Ukraine.
Fresh legislation set out in the King’s Speech will ban political donations being made in cryptocurrency while British citizens living overseas will only be able to send parties £100,000 each year.
Along with the parliamentary committee probe into Farage, the Electoral Commission could also decide to investigate Farage on whether electoral law was breached.
The debacle has added to growing scrutiny on Reform UK politicians’ finances after The Sunday Times said Tice did not pay the correct amount of corporation tax on one of his businesses.
Reform UK has argued that voters are not interested in these financial stories, and that voters largely ignored the controversy at last week’s local and regional elections.
The party won more than 1,450 council seats across England and became the second biggest group in the Senedd in Wales.
A spokesman for Reform UK said: “Mr Farage’s office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
“He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken.
“We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.”