UK’s Farage denies breaking rules after report of undeclared benefits

LONDON: Hard-right British politican Nigel Farage on Sunday faced fresh allegations over non-disclosure of gifts after a newspaper reported a convicted fraudster paid for his security and staff before he became an MP.

An MP said he had asked parliament’s standards commissioner to investigate the new claims against the leader of the anti-immigration Reform party, which is currently leading in opinion polls.

Farage is already the subject of a probe by the parliamentary anti-sleaze watchdog over the non-disclosure of a £5 million (US$6.6 million) donation from a crypto-currency billionaire based in Thailand.

The Sunday Times reported that George Cottrell, a 32-year-old crypto entrepreneur from an aristocratic family, rents a mansion near Buckingham Palace where Farage has stayed.

It reported that Cottrell also paid for Farage’s security and paid staff who worked on his social media shortly before he announced a return to frontline politics in 2024.

Cottrell pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the US in 2017 and was jailed for eight months, according to British media.

New MPs must register gifts including payments in kind they received in the 12 months before election, unless they could not be “reasonably” seen as related to political activity.

Farage declared only that Cottrell paid for him to attend a conference.

Reform politician Robert Jenrick told the BBC that Cottrell is an “old friend” of Farage who paid for his staff and security in 2024 before he became an MP.

He said Farage stayed “very infrequently” at Cottrell’s rental property.

“Absolutely no rules have been broken,” Jenrick said.

However, Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde posted on X a letter he had written to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, requesting him to investigate The Sunday Times claims.

The opposition MP wrote that the allegations raised a “serious question” over whether Farage met obligations under parliament’s code of conduct.

In May the parliamentary watchdog announced it would probe Farage’s non-disclosure of a £5 million gift aviation entrepreneur and crypto investor Christopher Harborne, which he received in 2024.

Farage and Reform UK told British media that he did not declare this because it was a personal gift to pay for his personal security, which the Thai-based Harborne corroborated.

Reform UK gained almost 1,500 seats in local elections in England in May.

Howver, its candidate came a distant second in a key by-election won this month by Labour’s Andy Burnham, expected to become the next prime minister.