Nigal Farage Stands Down As MP To Trigger By-Election

[andy06shake]

I don't think he was a member then...and I read somewhere else that he only decided to run for office after he received the money so he could bolster his security to allow him to run and do what he needed to do publicly.

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"The money was received in early 2024, before he became an member of parliament, but new MPs are required register all their financial interests received in the 12 months before their election.
 There is an exemption for gifts received in a purely personal capacity, and Farage has defended accepting the cash on these grounds. He has said the donation was a “personal, unconditional gift.”"

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"Farage is facing fresh accusations he failed to declare gifts and donations from another crypto entrepreneur. George Cottrell, who spent time in an Arizona prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, funded the Reform UK leader’s private security, staff, transport, and accommodation in the year before he was elected to the Commons, the Sunday Times newspaper reported over the weekend.
 
Farage also reportedly stayed at 32-year-old Cottrell’s five-story home near Buckingham Palace.
The Reform UK leader said in a statement to the Daily Express newspaper Sunday night: “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.”"

https://www.politico.eu/article/nigel-fa...pto-gifts/

Problem being Quint, Farage is the epitome of the establishment, so...

A Man of the people, which is what he pretends to be, doesn't get handed £5 million as personal gifts.

Or 5 million anything for that matter...

Not without serious strings attached.

[quintessentone]

Problem being Quint, Farage is the epitome of the establishment, so...

A Man of the people, which is what he pretends to be, don't get handed £5 million as personal gifts.

Or 5 million anything for that matter...

All politicians are supposed representatives of the people and some others in other parties have accepted sports arena seats as gifts totaling up to 92,000 pounds...don't quote me on that, I'm going from memory of an article I read a while ago.

[andy06shake]

All politicians are supposed representatives of the people and some others in other parties have accepted sports arena seats as gifts totaling up to 92,000 pounds...don't quote me on that, I'm going from memory of an article I read a while ago.

Im not sure as to the amount nether but the issue is whether the gift creates a conflict of interest or undue influence.

If a person gives you £5 million as a gift, it's coming with strings attached...

It just is, to think otherwise, imho, is rather short-sighted.

Especially so where the likes of politicians and billionaires are concerned...

And if you fail to declare such a sum, alarm bells are going to ring...

[quintessentone]

Im not sure as to the amount nether but the issue is whether the gift creates a conflict of interest or undue influence.

If a person gives you £5 million as a gift, it's coming with strings attached...

It just is, to think otherwise, imho, is rather short-sighted.

Especially so where the likes of politicians and billionaires are concerned...

And if you fail to declare such a sum, alarm bells are going to ring...

5 million from a friend billionaire does not necessarily have to come with strings, sometimes friends are concerned for your safety.

If it was a personal gift, which he says it was, he would not be required to declare it as I imagine that is his lawyers' argument.

[Oldcarpy2]

Foreign donations are not allowed.

Trying to get around that with false information, doubly so.

Allegedly....

[andy06shake]

5 million from a friend billionaire does not necessarily have to come with strings, sometimes friends are concerned for your safety.

If it was a personal gift, which he says it was, he would not be required to declare it as I imagine that is his lawyers' argument.

Yeah, im not that gullible, sorry...

You don't get something for nothing in this world.

Especially not £5 million from a person who lives halfway around the world in Thailand.

With obvious business interests directly connected to the UK.

Unless they want something...

And when you refuse to declare the sum, well thats not exactly screaming transparency.

Nigel Farage told senior figures in Reform UK he would need “a million a year” to cover lost earnings if he stood for parliament in the 2024 general election, sources have told the Guardian, raising further questions about why he was given £5m by a crypto billionaire.
Sources say the discussion took place in March 2024 – shortly before the undeclared gift was made by Christopher Harborne on 5 April, according to the Thailand-based crypto billionaire’s lawyers.
At that time Farage believed he would be forced to give up his lucrative GB News presenting role, which then paid him more than £1m a year.
According to one of the sources, Farage said he could not put himself “through the wringer” of standing and “end up skint”. He also said he was being “properly paid” for the first time in years.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/202...mp-in-2024
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/07/17/farage-5m-gift-tax/

[ArMaP]

I don't think he was a member then...and I read somewhere else that he only decided to run for office after he received the money so he could bolster his security to allow him to run and do what he needed to do publicly.

You're right, this 5 million case was after Brexit, so the UK was not part of the EU and he couldn't be a member of the European Parliament.

[andy06shake]

You're right, this 5 million case was after Brexit, so the UK was not part of the EU and he couldn't be a member of the European Parliament.

Yeah, he stopped being a MEP 31 January 2020 when the UK left the EU.

[Oldcarpy2]

5 million from a friend billionaire does not necessarily have to come with strings, sometimes friends are concerned for your safety.

If it was a personal gift, which he says it was, he would not be required to declare it as I imagine that is his lawyers' argument.

Good luck to that lawyer.

He's refused to say how he spent it, by the way.

[quintessentone]

Yeah, im not that gullible, sorry...

You don't get something for nothing in this world.

Especially not £5 million from a person who lives halfway around the world in Thailand.

With obvious business interests directly connected to the UK.

Unless they want something...

And when you refuse to declare the sum, well thats not exactly screaming transparency.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/202...mp-in-2024
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/07/17/farage-5m-gift-tax/

You may be right, in that, and it looks like the billionaires are coming out of the woodwork to back the Reform Party.

 

"British crypto billionaire Ben Delo says he has given £4m to Reform UK
 Delo, pardoned by Trump after violating US banking law, describes himself as champion of free speech"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/202...-reform-uk