Farage defends £5m gift saying 'no one cares', as investigation continues

Nigel Farage doubled down on defending the undeclared gift he received from a crypto businessman

Nigel Farage has said that “no one cares” about the ongoing investigation into an undeclared £5 million gift from a Thailand-based crypto businessman.

The Reform UK leader has repeatedly denied wrongdoing over the gift from Christopher Harborne, a major party donor, insisting it was unconnected to his political activity.

He doubled down on this defence in his interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, insisting the money is a gift, “it’s not a donation” and that he doesn’t believe he’s “broken any rules”.

Farage repeated his previous claims that the money was given for him to have security and protection, saying “the state has consistently refused to provide me with any protection at all” despite his claims of being the most physically attacked politician in the country.

Despite this, on Tuesday morning, he said that he had not actually “spent a penny” and told GMB that it was an “unconditional” gift and could be spent on anything, even suggesting he “can spend it on cars”.

Parliament’s standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, has opened an investigation into Mr Farage over the gift and whether the Clacton MP should have declared it in his register of interests after he was elected.

Under the rules in place at the time, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

The rules also required MPs to bear in mind the purpose of the register of interests to provide information about financial interests “which might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions”.

If found to have breached the rules, Farage could face sanctions including a Commons suspension that could trigger a recall petition and a by-election in his seat.