Farage and the gifts from crypto entrepreneur convicted of fraud

I really am trying not to keep writing about the Reform UK leader but so much stuff is coming out about Farage at the moment that it is inavoidable. The latest outrageous revelation is that the Clacton MP did not declare gifts and benefits provided by a crypto entrepreneur who has previously been convicted of fraud.

The paper says that Reform MP, Robert Jenrick has admitted that the his leader had accepted staff, security and accommodation from George Cottrell, but claimed they were personal gifts provided before he became an MP and so did not need to be declared:

Jenrick’s comments came after the Sunday Times revealed Cottrell, who was convicted of wire fraud in the US, had hired social media staff for Farage and allowed him to stay in his townhouse near Buckingham Palace.

Asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether Cottrell paid for staff to run Farage’s social media presence in 2024, Jenrick said: “Yes, absolutely.”

But he added: “You’re allowed to accept a gift, support, whatever you want to call it, from a personal friend before you’re a member of parliament, if it’s in a purely personal capacity.

“When you’re a news presenter and you’ve just been on the jungle [in the TV programme I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!], you do create social media content that’s nothing to do with his job as a member of parliament, because he wasn’t a member of parliament.”

Jenrick also acknowledged Farage stayed in Cottrell’s house “a couple of times” and accepted private security paid for by him. “Reform have been completely open about this,” he said.

The revelations add to questions about how Farage has financed his lifestyle before and since becoming an MP.

The Guardian revealed earlier this year that the Reform leader had failed to declare a £5m donation from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne just before he announced his intention to stand for parliament.

Parliamentary rules say that MPs must declare gifts, benefits and hospitality received in the year preceding their election if they could in any way relate to their political activities. There is an exemption, however, for gifts which are provided in a purely personal capacity.

The Liberal Democrats have now written to the parliamentary standards commissioner, who is already investigating the Harborne money, asking him to look into the gifts provided by Cottrell too.

Whether these dodgy connections and obsession with accumulating wealth has any impact on Reform UK's polling has to be seen, but in my view the man is not fit to hold public office.