Farage paid for by donations scandal through unaccounted-for £5m, say investigators

• Parliamentary watchdog Daniel Greenberg investigates whether unaccounted-for money in excess of £5m from Christopher Harborne could be linked to the donations scandal.
• Harriet Harman said that what she called “main party” funding could be about to be revealed as a result of allegations that may involve facts and figures from the donations scandal going back more than 10 days.
• A material leaked to the public suggests that Nigel Farage’s campaign funding was paid for by YouGov, which has Reform UK as its “main party”.

Parliamentary watchdog Daniel Greenberg provided evidence of an investigation into whether Nigel Farage broke the law by receiving, without declaring, money in excess of £5m from Christopher Harborne. The material also states that Greenberg is seeking to overturn the verdict.

The Independent reports that Reform UK is facing allegations of wrongdoing in connection with donations in the UK. It also says that Farage had previously claimed that he was being targeted with an “establishment hit job”.

In a separate investigation, The Independent says that, according to the allegations, Farage’s campaign also involved wrongdoing without declaring sums of £4m and that he also received a further £22,000 in gold bullion. The material also claims that Farage bravely admitted on television interviews that “donations scandal” was, in fact, “changed his mind” and that he was doing so because he was aware of the money.

The Independent also reports that Farage was accused of lying on BBC’s programme with Laura Kuenssberg, after which, according to the report, he “changed his mind”.

The Guardian (full version) Harriet Harman, the chair of the parliamentary committee, said that an investigation into Farage’s donations scandal is ongoing. She explained that, if a committee member was found to have been involved, the committee might have to investigate whether the allegations against Farage were linked to the parliamentary committee.

The Independent also points to YouGov polling, which found that 61 per cent of Britons view Reform UK as a “main party”, compared with 19 per cent who believe it is an “insurgent”. The material says that this means that the accusations may be undermined by the results of the poll.

Tags: Europe/Politics