Nigel Farage faces official inquiry over £5M Christopher Harborne ‘gift’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is to be the subject of an official inquiry by the UK’s Parliamentary Standards Commissioner after it was revealed he received £5 million from Tether shareholder and Reform donor Christopher Harborne.
The money, which Farage says was a “gift” to help him pay for private security, rather than a political donation, was given in early 2024, just weeks before he decided to stand as a candidate in the general election.
Farage maintains that the money given to him before he became an MP was a “personal, unconditional gift,” and as such, he claims that he was under no obligation to declare it.
Opponents, however, say he broke commons rules by failing to declare it in the MPs’ register of interests once he had been elected.
According to the Commons code of conduct, MPs “must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election.”
It also outlines that “purely personal gifts or benefits” would not have to be registered.
However, the rules also state that “both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered,” and “if there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered.”
As reported by the BBC, 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.”
Read more: Tether shareholder Christopher Harborne gifts £19M to Farage’s Reform UK
News of the so-called gift was broken by The Guardian last month. Farage pre-emptively attacked the report via an article in The Telegraph that was published hours before, titled “Farage: My home was firebombed.”
In the article, Farage claims that Harborne gave him the money “so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life.”
He calls Harborne, “an ardent supporter who is deeply concerned for my safety,” and bemoaned the lack of security funding from the government.
Farage also revealed that he was a victim of an arson attack on his home last year.
Harborne is a wealthy crypto tycoon who also has investments in aviation and defence firms, and has donated over £22 million ($29 million) to Reform UK over the past seven years. He also has significant holdings in Ethereum and Tether.
Since Harborne donated to Farage and Reform, Farage has promoted Tether on a UK talk show and proposed various crypto-friendly policies.
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